Sam Harris Discusses The Moral Landscape

By: Sam Harris

Length: 29 mins

Publisher's summary

Sam Harris discusses his latest book, The Moral Landscape.

About The Moral Landscape:
Sam Harris tears down the wall between scientific facts and human values, arguing that most people are simply mistaken about the relationship between morality and the rest of human knowledge. Harris urges us to think about morality in terms of human and animal well-being, viewing the experiences of conscious creatures as peaks and valleys on a "moral landscape". Because there are definite facts to be known about where we fall on this landscape, Harris foresees a time when science will no longer limit itself to merely describing what people do in the name of "morality"; in principle, science should be able to tell us what we ought to do to live the best lives possible.

Listen to the The Moral Landscape.

©2010 Sam Harris (P)2010 Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Bad sales pitch for a good product

I listened to this presentation and I read the book. In fact, I've read everything Harris has written. And here's the thing, this is not that great of a presentation. But the book is well worth it. Harris attempts to generate from scratch a whole new way of examining morality and ethics and building a moral code from the ground up in a logical, scientific way. And he succeeds. The book, Moral Landscape is great. But this intro to it is lacking in the excitement and genius of the full book. Skip this, buy the book.

Morality in terms of human and animal well being.

Sam Harris is a very intelligent man and a serious scientist. I agree that belief in god(s) is totally unnecessary to developing an appropriate moral system and that, indeed, some/most religions are indeed immoral when taken to dogmatic excess. I disagree with his militant atheism which he basically turns into his religion. I make that statement not only based on The Moral Landscape but on the sum of all of his writings and lectures on the topic of morality and religion.

The cases that Harris makes against Christianity's excesses in Letters to a Christian Nation and Islam's excesses in Islam and the Future of Tolerance are valid. But in his The End of Faith: Religion, Terror and the Future of Reason Harris fails to make the case against the excesses of militant atheism which is also a religion, his religion. During the French Revolution militant atheists lopped off the heads of thousands of their fellow citizens. Communists, militant atheists, have killed millions in the USSR, China, Cambodia, and elsewhere.

We cannot know that which is unknowable. That is true about the existence of god(s) whether it is a theist who claims that higher power definitely exists or about militant atheists like Sam Harris who claim to know that such a higher power does exist.

Nevertheless, I find atheists like Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, and Christopher Hitchens well worth listening to and reading.

Ok.

Didn't realize I was downloading a self plug, but you did a good job, Sam. Buying your book.

Logical Issues Anound

Frustrating to clearly hear an incoherent hypothesis, but Sam delivered one here.

If you love logic, you will hate this!

Really?

Some how I can't get past the fact that Sam Harris is the same person that said "If I had a magic wand with which I could eradicate either religion or rape, I would chose religion".
See Bethany Saltman, "The Temple of Reason" The Sun 369 (Sept 2006) pg 16.
Evidently , while his belief in his atheism is worth any price (rape), religious belief is too costly...


Even many of his fellow atheists said he went too far with that comment and really strains his credulity on topics of "morality". Sam's got a good voice and I liked the narration, he did well with that. I personally know and have read too many of his comments like the one above to really want to be a part of hating others based on their personal beliefs. I found his motive transparent and disappointing.

Did Not Convince Me to Buy the Audio Book

I like listening to the short, free interviews with an author who's book I am unsure whether or not to try out. This interview swayed me to not get The Moral Landscape by Sam Harris. I can tell he is passionate about what he writes and has a large following but I'm not sure it is for me.

Biased

Biased No data to support assumptions. Ranting personal opinions and biases. Apparent author is just trying to sell his book. He would be more effective if he provided evidence to support his claims. He would also benefit from taking a course on logic and arguments so he can learn to formulate logical arguments.

Rambling

Sound went in and out but the rambling and "discussion" was not worth the time.

fantastic addendum to a great great

sam harris is one of the most articulate and clear thinkers of our time. great book.

Sam speaks truth.

When we stop using religious freedom as a way to justify what is clearly immoral behavior, we might be able to evolve to a place that is truly good for every human being.