The Challenge of Things: Thinking Through Troubled Times - Softcover

Provocative . . . Each essay is a jewel, giving new relevance to a familiar issue; taken together, they are a spirited defense of the importance of philosophy and the humanities in general while calling us to rethink some of our most fundamental assumptions. * ShelfAwareness * Debunks the teleological, ontological and cosmological arguments employed throughout Christendom for the literal existence of God . . . Those looking for a succinct analysis of these centuries old debates will appreciate Grayling's insights. * Washington Post "On Faith" on THE GOD ARGUMENT * Mr. Grayling is precise and incisive. He rattles through the standard arguments against the existence of God and does a capable job of demolishing those put forward in the hope of proving a deity's existence . . . The second half of the book, in which Mr. Grayling sets out his take on the ethical system known as humanism, is more likely to win converts . . . Mr. Grayling is a talented apologist. His brand of humanism comes across as sensible, reasonable, and characterized by a generosity of spirit that is often absent from religious structures. * The Economist on THE GOD ARGUMENT * A marvel, a 'distillation' of over a thousand authoritative texts, edited, redacted, and assembled in the manner of the (Holy) Bible, though by one man rather than many; written in a crisp, beautiful English; printed and bound like the precious object it clearly wishes to become. This is high praise, which Grayling, a philosopher at the University of London and the author of histories, biographies, and books demonstrating the everyday applicability of Humanist philosophy, amply deserves. * The New Yorker on THE GOOD BOOK * Maybe agnostics and atheists will embrace [The Good Book]; maybe Christians will embrace it too as a valuable collection of insights. It might begin as a curiosity and then flourish or remain a cult favorite or just a curiosity. I suppose some might be offended by The Good Book but they needn't be. You don't have to be a nonbeliever to find solace and wisdom in the distilled ideas presented here. * The Huffington Post on THE GOOD BOOK *

A new collection of essays on our conflicted and prejudiced world by the best-selling author of The God Argument and The Reason of Things