The circle of friends around Baron Holbach and his close friend and collaborator Diderot remains a kind of phantom ship in the history of philosophy to which rumors and legends have attached themselves like barnacles. Its members were part of a vast conspiracy that planned the French Revolution under the guise of debating questions of economics, some said; they were operating a factory for illegal books, which were written, revised, and disseminated by the thousands to bring down the monarchy, others believed. Most of their contemporaries agreed that Holbach and his cohorts were vile atheists who should be burned at the stake. Sometimes historical reality is more rewarding and more exciting than even legend. Baron Holbach’s salon and its principal protagonists did ferment revolutionary ideas, but it was more than a mere political revolution they were thinking about; they did write and publish subversive books, but they wanted to bring down something infinitely more vast than the monarchy or even the Catholic Church. The vision they discussed around the baron’s dinner table was one in which women and men would no longer be oppressed by the fear and ignorance instilled by religion but could instead live their lives to the full. Instead of sacrificing their desires to the vain hope of reward in the afterlife, they would be able to walk freely, to understand their place in the universe as intelligent machines of flesh and blood and pour their energies into building individual lives and communities based on their inheritance of desire, empathy, and reason. Desire, erotic and otherwise, would make their world beautiful and rich; empathy would make it kind and livable; reason would allow an understanding of the world’s immutable laws.
Blom definitely deserves an invitation to the podcast.
I would love to hear an episode illustrating the state of secularism generally throughout the globe and particularly in Australia. There are so many aspects to dig into such as the legal systems, culture, political issues, model societies and strategies that local movements can try to emulate etc..
Here’s a .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on the topic of fanaticism, which he uses to touch upon some of the matters discussed in his book A Wicked Company.
Oops! Thanks for pointing that out. It should work now.
It’s all good now! After listening to the video, I think I’d rather read his works than listen. Not a very dynamic speaker to say the least. But I agree with his content.
Sam Harris… it has been a while since he’s been given an opportunity here to rail against Chris Hedges… and he has good reason to do so. Also, he has a very clear way of explaining the issues involved in the accommodation / in your face debate.
I would love to hear an episode illustrating the state of secularism generally throughout the globe and particularly in Australia. There are so many aspects to dig into such as the legal systems, culture, political issues, model societies and strategies that local movements can try to emulate etc..
Cheers.
Ben.
Agreed! I’d like to hear someone from India actually; there are freethought organizations that aim to spread secularism and debunk astrology/con men like Sai Baba etc. A link to one of these orgs: http://nirmukta.com/
But I’d be interested in a perspective from any “non-Western” country.
I’d love to see (hear) you guys interview Matt Dillahunty of the Atheist Community of Austin. On the last episode of the Non Prophets they had a really interesting discussion about whether, as skeptics, we should address the issue or religion or not. It was so interesting, but I’m not sure what side I come down on yet. I’d love to hear you guys ask him, or one of the other guys, some probing questions
Thanks (my first post!!)
-Tash
P.S. You can listen to the episode on THIS page. It’s episode 10.15
I’d like to hear pastor Greg Boyd be a guest interviewer, and have him interview Robert M. Price about Price’s article “New Testament Narrative as Old Testament Midrash.”
I would like to have Dr. Alice Roberts appear on the show. She seems really interesting and of what ive seen of her she seems to be a skeptic but would like to hear her commenting on it as well as just about her books and tv shows. For those of you who havent seen her stuff. Start with Her 2009 show The Incredible Human Journey.
Also, he has a very clear way of explaining the issues involved in the accommodation / in your face debate.
