Why I Am an Agnostic: Including Expressions of Faith from a Protestant, a Catholic and a Jew

by Clarence Darrow

Book Overview

The renowned lawyer Clarence Darrow (1857-1938) was also an impassioned defender of intellectual freedom, individual liberties, and social justice.In these wide-ranging essays, Darrow attacks beliefs... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1258993716
• ISBN13: 9781258993719
• Release Date: October 2013
• Publisher: Literary Licensing, LLC
• Length: 64 Pages
• Weight: 0.22 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A Functional Conversation Piece

Clarence Darrow, defendant at the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trail, expounds upon his beliefs toward the end of his life. The title essay, ?Why I am an Agnostic,? a spoof on Bertrand Russell?s essay collection, outlines Darrow?s reasons for being a theological fence sitter. This essay is a brief, though well-narrated and structured, sketch of the theological arguments against belief. Darrow uses his wit to take the edge off of an otherwise highly volatile subject. Darrow discusses Paley?s argument from design, Aristotle?s theory of infinite regress, the duality of mind and body, miracles and natural law, and predestination and free will.In the second essay, ?The Myth of the Soul,? the author further analyzes the nature of duality. He also discusses the desire and origin of belief as well as the life instinct. Out of the collection, this is the strongest work.In the third essay, a tongue-in-cheek look at ?The Absurdities of the Bible,? Darrow outlines the metaphysical dilemmas posed in the Holy text while supporting the claim that an omni benevolent deity cannot, by it nature deceive, thus proving his claim by reductio ad absurdum. In the forth essay, ?Voltaire,? Darrow delves into near hero-worship of his intellectual messiah. This is the longest work in the collection, a mere historical outline of the French iconoclast?s life.The final work of the text, ?The Skeleton in the Closet,? is the weakest essay. Never explicitly stating who or what the skeleton may be, Darrow leads the reader into unfulfilled anticipation at the turn of every paragraph while never telling him or her that it is Darrow?s ?coming out? of intellectual and (for Darrow) hypocritical seclusion. The text, reprinted by Prometheus Press and the Free thought Library, is not only a nice text to have for conversation purposes but a great outline of the theological argument. The text is worth the price for the first two (and arguably three) essays in the collection in order to have a quick review before going into to a theological discussion.

A Freethinker Speaks his mind

Five essays written by one of america's greatest lawyers. As defense attorney for John Scopes, Mr. Darrow defended the merits of evolution and exposed the problems of biblical creation. In this book, he writes his opinions on religion, the bible, the soul and Voltaire.Contents:1. Why I am an agnostic[Criticizes the concept of god, Paley's watch-design analogy, the existence of the soul, and the bible.]2. The myth of the soul[A more detailed critique of the existence of the soul.]3. Absurdities of the soul[A humorous critique on the absuridities in the bible.]4. Voltaire[A biography on the life of Voltaire, the Enlightenment's foremost freethinker.]5. The skeleton in the closet[A brilliant and moving essay on coming out of the freethinker's closet]"The fear of God is not the beginning of wisdom. The fear of God is the death of wisdom. Skepticism and doubt lead to study and investigation, and investigation is the beginning of wisdom." (p. 19)