Progressive Secular Society

A progressive secular society is one committed to the widening of scientific knowledge and humane feeling. It regards humanity as part of physical nature and opposes any appeal to supernatural agencies or explanations. In particular, human moral perspectives are human creations and the only basis for ethics. Secular values need re-affirming in the face of the resurgence of aggressive supernatural religious doctrines and practices. This book gives a set of ‘secular thoughts for the day’ – many only a page or two long – on topics as varied as Shakespeare and Comte, economics, science and social action.

Keywords: Progressive secularism, secular society, scientific knowledge, humanity, humane feeling, morality, ethics, Shakespeare, Comte, economics, science, social reform, humanism, ontology, Plato, Santayana, determinism, stoicism, Camus, moral theory, liberty, necessity, the left, religion, Sartre, Durkheim, Russell, Schopenhauer, Melville, Weber, Montesquieu, multiplicity, evil, complexity, purpose, science