CFI|SF: The Secular Conscience - Why Belief Belongs In Public Life
with Austin Dacey
Secularism has lost its soul. From Washington to the Vatican to Tehran, religion is a public matter as never before, and secular values—personal autonomy, toleration, separation of religion and state, and freedom of conscience—are attacked on all sides and defended by few. The godly claim a monopoly on the language of morality in public debate, while secular liberals stand accused of standing for nothing. For generations, too many have insisted that questions of conscience—religion, ethics, and values—are "private matters" that have no place in public debate. Ironically, this ideology prevents them from subjecting religion to due scrutiny when it encroaches on individual rights.
In The Secular Conscience, released this month by Prometheus Books, philosopher Austin Dacey calls for a bold rethinking of the nature of conscience and its role in public life. Inspired by an earlier liberal tradition he traces to Spinoza and John Stuart Mill, Dacey urges liberals to lift their self-imposed gag order and defend a renewed secularism based on the objective moral value of conscience. He likens conscience to the free press in an open society: it is protected from coercion and control, not because it is private, but because it has a vital role in the public sphere.
Austin Dacey PhD, is a philosopher with the Center for Inquiry in New York City, where he serves as United Nations representative and a contributing editor at Skeptical Inquirer and Free Inquiry magazines. He teaches philosophy, ethics, and science education at Polytechnic University and State University of New York. He is the author of articles in numerous publications including the New York Times. His website is www.austindacey.com.
Admission is $10
Free to Friends of the Center
Doors open 6:00
Presentation Begins 6:30
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