The Portable Atheist by Christopher Hitchens
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Christopher Hitchens Books on Amazon
Purchases from the above link benefit RRS
If you have not already purchased your copy, you should do so. For those who don't know, Hitchens has hand selected some of the best atheistic and agnostic writing over the centuries and compiled them into one handy tool for we atheists to read, absorb, and ultimately use.
What I've found particularly enjoyable is the fact that Hitchens has a nice variety of material. He has older authors like Lucretius, Hobbes, Thomas Paine and Darwin, and then younger and more recent material like Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, and Salman Rushdie. The book also contains biographical material (for instance a letter from Darwin explaining how he became an agnostic), philosophical material like Mackie's conclusions from the Miracle of Theism, and then extremely scientific material like Dawkins, Dennett and Victor Stenger. It is well worth your time and money and a resource I believe you'll refer back to over and over again.
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Thanks for reminding me, I'll try and hunt down a copy today.
Sounds scrumtrulescent. I'll have to pick one up!
I was looking at this book at the bookstore just a couple days ago. However, I fail to see the value in having a book with atheistic quotes by famous people.
Seems like no more than an appeal from authority.
I'd rather buy a book that teaches me logic about the atheistic viewpoint than just teaching me quotes.
"I am an atheist, thank God." -Oriana Fallaci
Look again. It's not quotes, it's excerpts of the best reasoning from atheists throughout the centuries. It's as few as two, to as many as 25-30 pages of material from each author. Some essays have never been published before. It's not a collection of quotes at all, it is an edited series of essays and excerpts.
Hmmm, I suppose I will have to take another look at it then.
I got my copy from Amazon yesterday. The introduction is great. I think the selections for this anthology are good, and even though I've read a lot of them, it's still nice to have them together and see what has been excerpted.
I think I'm going to enjoy it.
Thandarr
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How big is the book? The reason I ask is because of the name. I sometimes carry a small bible around in my back pocket but it is still quite large and uncomfortable. Maybe I can replace it with this book, for debate material. Though i'm not sure I would actually want to replace my bible though. Nothing shuts up day-to-day christians with the fact that your more familiar with their religion then themselves.
EDIT: by how big, I mean the dimensions of the book (not the number of pages)
Too big for your pocket, but still a damn good read.
Well, got a copy and stared reading it, I'm impressed. Lots of good reading from lots of interesting people. I highly recomend it.
Morte alla tyrannus et dei
There needs to be a pocket version...and a version for hotel rooms.
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Good point, you should suggest that in an email to hitchens. He always likes ideas that make him more money anyway.
Morte alla tyrannus et dei
Do you think that if maybe there was a pocket version, that Kucinich would carry a copy? I mean, since he's got everything else in his pocket...