Skeptics Books

This is a very exciting book that explores new directions. The author has a great sense of humor and comes across with great intelligence, yet doesn't take himself too seriously. One of the best books I read this year.

The five essays contained in this volume are all ground-breaking scholarship. They have been collected and reprinted precisely because of their seminal importance.

The essays are all concerned with Ancient Greek scepticism and are centered on the question of whether and in what sense a sceptic can have beliefs. This is crucial for our understanding of Greek scepticism. Of course, not all scholars agree on the matter. In fact, the three authors of these essays - all of whom are leading experts on Ancient Greek philosophy - don't agree among themselves. But then, as the editors explain in the preface, these essays were not written in order to "present a new scholarly concensus" but rather to revive interest in, and call attention to the philosophical richness of the ancient Greek sceptical tradition which for a long time was little known and even less well understood.

The essays are accessible to the Greekless reader but may be difficult for those who are new to philosophy. They are not written as an introduction to Ancient Greek scepticism, let alone Ancient philosophy or epistemology. However, not only historians of philosophy interested in ancient or early modern philosophy, but all serious students of philosophy, especially epistemology, will benefit greatly from reading these essays.

I was first introduced to Kates' book when it came out and was shocked at the frankness of the information. The book contains a number of contibutors - various experts in their field - all of which destoys many of the notions and myths about gun control. I've used the book (and actually I bought a second copy after the first was worn out) as the bible to educate people to the realities Kates brings to light. Kates continues to write and debate his stand and has written other books continuing this theme.

Prometheus' second anthology is not, I would say, as good as the first one, but it is still a nice read. Most of the selections are at least a half-century old, and most are much older. The biblical criticism of Bradlaugh and Wheless shows its age, and many of the other essays have been outdone by contemporary works. But the best feature of the anthology is that it shows the past of freethought and atheism. There were courageous men and women years ago, when prejudice and bigotry were even more intense against heresy, who were unafraid to speak out for the truth. I enjoy reading these works and getting a feel for the passion and intensity of those brave individuals. Freethinkers would also do well to familiarize themselves with our past. It lends encouragement. Our generation is not the first to question religious authority, and we will not be the last. The poetry selections are interesting, too, for those with a taste for it. Read and take heart.

My LIFE has CHANGED since reading this book!!! I AM HAPPY!!!! I am enjoying my life!!! I highly recommend this book to EVERYONE!!!!!!!!

Even if your not a believer in the supernatural there's more to fight off such as astrology,acupuncture,UFO's,and other delusions you might think true but has no evidence. Great for debating those creationists and other weird beliefs people seem to have.

I love these "Skeptic's Guide" books from Dale Bourke. The Skeptic's Guide to the Global AIDS Crisis (Revised Edition)Skeptic's Guide to Global Poverty (The Skeptic's Guide) After reading this book I'm ready to join the conversation about poverty, no longer intimidated by terms I don't understand. The Skeptics Guide to Global Poverty not only educated my mind, it empowered me to make a difference.

The late Mr. Adler wrote that the Tyrant does not fear the treatise that attacks tyranny because so few will read or understand it anyway. However, the Tyrant fears the well timed joke told by the town drunk. This is an apt description of Max Nomad's book titled A SKEPTIC'S POLITICAL DICTIONARY. Max Nomad would probably admit that even the treatise would have resulted in judicial murder or a slow death in a Soviet slave labor camp.

Nomad does not deceive readers, and he readily admits he is sort of a "leftest" whatever that means. He also admits that he preferred the graft of the New Dealers which reached the "common man" to legal looting of taxpayers by so-called conservative Republicans. Had Nomad lived into the 21st. century, he would have to admit that the Republicans
illegally loot the taxpayer and "common man" as much or more than the Democrats.

While Nomad does not favor Big Capitalism, he implies that Big Capitalism is much better than "Fascism" (whatever that means) and Big Communism. Nomad uses parody and quips to attack the Soviets while the poor Russians in "The Workers' Paradise" exchanged a milder form of tyranny under the Czars to a much worse form of tyranny under Lenin and Stalin. Even though Nomad was a "leftest," he is particularly hard on the Soviet rulers.

Nomad indicts Fascism but not nearly as much as Big Communism. One good point that Nomad makes is that many of the Germans had difficulty comprehending Marxism and Big Communism. One should note that just about all the Marxists, Leninists, Stalinists, etc. also had difficulty in interpreting Marxism, and if they did not change their minds fast enough, execution cellers. purges, and concentration camp brutality were the results. One should note that the biggest purge of True Believers in Big Communist occured in the Communist Soviet Union. Nomad is clear that while Marxism was hard for so many Germans to comprehend, even the "Village Idiot" clearly understood the appeal of Hitler's National Socialism.

Nomad demonstrates in a series of jokes and short definitions the difference between the ideals of Big Communism, Fascism, Unionism, etc. and the underlying desire for power. Nomad comments that Fascist and Communists leaders proclaim that they are against every form of tyranny and absolute rule-except their own. In the name of Brotherhood and Peace, Stalin added several Eastern European countries to his "benevolent "Workers Paradice." Of course the Fellow Travellers and sympathizers commented their was little or no criticism because all the dissenters were either in Soviet concentration camps or shoot as "Enemies of the People."

An interesting point is made that maybe those who hated Jews became sympthetic to Big Communism during the Czech purge trials in 1952. The Czech Communists charged several dissidents or scapegoats with being part of some awful Capitalist/Jewish conspiracy which infected the Czech economy. One should follow this incident with Stalin's "Doctors' Plot" which was aimed at Soveit Jews. While there victims of this purge, it did not reach the murderous proportions of previous purges due to the fact that Stalin died in 1953.

Basically, Nomad defines the Communist Party as the Vanguard of the Bureaucrats. He is clear that there was well defined class system in the Soviet classless society and cites numerous examples to confirm this fact. Yet, so many American sympathizers refused to acknowledge this fact in spite of blunt reality.

One may argue that Nomad wrote this book in 1953 and condemned the Soviets because, "It was not smart to be an ex-Red." This is not true. Nomad wrote his book APOSTLES OF REVOLUTION in the 1930s and develops the same theme of idealism vs. power. In other words, Nomad was consistent.

This reviewer's only criticism of A SKEPTIC'S POLITICAL DICTIONARY is the mild criticism of the Catholic Church. If he would have carefully examined the history of the Catholic Church during the High Middle Ages, he would have known that Catholic Popes and authorities rarely interfered in the students'/teachers' debates. A brief look at these debates shows a lively discourse.

Nomad's A SKEPTIC'S POLITICAL DICTIONARY is a concise/terse book that easily shows the abuse of political power and the lethal tragedies of the 20th. century. Any reader with residual common sense can easily read and appreciate this book.

The problem with AIDS in this world never really seemed to hit me as a crisis. I had seen tv specials on the problem, but many of them had to do with the free spirit of the 80's and a general lack of information. I guess you could call me a skeptic. After reading the first paragraph and faced with the statement, "Three million people die each year from AIDS, a death toll that has been compared to twenty fully loaded 747s crashing every single day for a year," it seemed evident that there was more to this disease than I first thought. I remembered how many stories I saw on the news about airplanes crashing and the news coverage that followed. I can't remember the last news story I watched about AIDS. Dale Hanson Bourke presents this pandemic in social, political, and scientific views without losing the reader in advanced biochemical terms. Every single page shocked and disturbed me with the magnitude of the situation and the need to get involved in some way. Her writing enhanced my knowledge of the disease, the science was interesting but not overly complicated, and her style of challenging common misconceptions in a Q&A format made me fly through this book. An excellent read for anyone living in today's world.

This is a very helpful resource for responding to some very common questions. I would suggest this book for anyone who is at a loss for what to say when attacked about his or her faith.