The Age of Atheists: How We Have Sought to Live Since the Death of God

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The Age of Atheists: How We Have Sought to Live Since the Death of God Page 76

by Watson, Peter


  pagan, 270, 323–25

  primitive, 145

  privatization of, 239, 513–14

  promises of, 281

  reassurance from, 13

  religious distinguished from, 296–97

  retreat from, 29

  root of, 65

  secular world’s relationship to, 2–6, 526–27, 528

  shadow culture and, 177–79

  as “slave morality,” 204, 209

  success as, 250

  universality of, 28–29

  without theology, 480–81

  See also specific person’s views or topic

  “religion of the blood” concept, 317, 319, 323

  religious atheist: Dworkin’s views about, 519, 522

  renewal, 50–51, 95

  Renoir, Pierre-Auguste, 113, 300

  repression, 311, 353

  resistance, 342, 400, 401, 402–3

  Resistance, French, 336, 338, 339, 346, 389, 390

  respect:

  as layer of ethics, 516

  self-, 519, 521, 548, 549

  See also dignity

  responsibility, 103, 344, 350, 383, 444, 513, 519–22, 554

  responsiveness: as layer of ethics, 516

  resurrection, 271, 384

  revolution, 138, 203, 209

  Richards, I. A., 74, 146

  Richards, Mary Caroline, 394, 402

  Ricoeur, Paul, 292, 555

  Ridley, Matt, 475–76, 477, 512

  Rieff, Philip, 270, 358

  rights: origins of, 534

  Rilke, Rainer Maria, 227–32

  afterlife and, 229–30, 550

  being and, 231

  Christianity and, 228, 550

  consciousness and, 228, 230

  Csikszentmihalyi and, 534

  death and, 225, 230, 231–32

  death of, 232

  Die Freistatt, as publisher for, 157

  and existence, 232, 537, 550

  and experience, 550

  and God, 228, 230

  and happiness, 228, 436

  Heidegger and, 227

  and human beings, 230

  and imagination, 232, 237, 553–54

  influence of, 227, 413

  influences on, 228

  and language, 228, 550

  life and, 228, 230, 231–32, 265

  Mallarmé’s influence on, 147

  and meaning, 230

  metaphor use by, 231–32

  music and, 230–31, 550

  naming and, 262, 550

  and nature, 228, 229, 550

  personal and professional background of, 227–28

  and poetry, 222, 550

  religion and, 228, 229, 230

  and science, 229

  and self, 231

  and singing, 230–31, 232, 550

  Spiegelberg and, 413

  and truth, 229

  and universe, 229

  views about world of, 148–49

  Rilke, Rainer Maria—works by:

  Duino Elegies, 228

  “The Passing,” 229

  Sonnets to Orpheus, 228

  Rimbaud, Arthur, 71, 72–73, 123, 422

  rituals, 67, 135, 145, 215, 216, 242, 391, 473, 555

  Ritzkrieg, 335

  “RNA world,” 510

  Robbins, Bruce, 539, 546, 548

  Robinson, John, 385–86

  Roche, G. T., 440–41

  rock and roll, 410, 422, 424

  Rodin, Auguste, 227, 436

  Rogers, Carl, 360, 361, 362, 363–66, 368, 370, 415

  “romance”: Rorty’s views about, 515

  Romanticism, 23, 92, 123, 125, 161, 264, 274, 420, 465

  Rorty, Richard, 59, 60, 64, 65, 465–68, 512–16, 524, 528, 538, 546, 547, 554, 556

  Rosenberg, Alfred, 316–22, 323

  The Myth of the Twentieth Century by, 316–19, 321, 322

  Rosenberg, Harold, 397–98

  Rosenthal, Bernice Glazer, 205, 206, 207, 210, 211, 212, 214

  Roszak, Theodore, 410, 411–12, 425–30, 447, 485, 486, 487, 490–91

  Roth, Philip, 406–8, 430, 447, 537, 538, 543

  Rothchild, Paul, 421–23

  Roughgarden, Joan, 10–11

  Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 123, 203, 346, 357, 450, 503, 525

  Roy, Oliver, 28, 29, 536, 546

  rules, 223, 232, 291, 292, 294, 357, 404, 503

  Rushdie, Salman, 1–2, 531–32

  Russell, Bertrand, 302–4, 306–9

  anxiety and, 308

  awards and honors for, 303

  belief and, 309

  as Cambridge Conversazione Society member, 78

  at Cambridge University, 303–4

  and children, 308

  Christianity and, 306, 307

  communism and, 307

  community and, 308

  conscience and, 308

  death of, 303

  delight and, 307–8

  desire and, 308, 309

  Dewey’s debates with, 60

  and ecstasy, 440

  and education, 308

  ethics and, 308

  and existence, 507

  and facts, 309

  and God, 306, 307, 309

  and good, 308

  and happiness, 307, 308, 435, 436–37

  and humanism, 307

  and intuition, 76

  and knowledge, 303, 307, 309

  and Lawrence’s “quit thinking” advice, 271, 387

  life and, 303, 307, 308, 309

  and love, 303, 307–8, 309

  and mathematics, 303–4

  and matter, 309

  and Moore’s influence, 79

  and morals, 308

  and nature, 307

  passions of, 303

  personal and professional background of, 303

  and religion, 306–7

  science and, 308

  and sex, 308

  and sin, 309

  and suffering, 303

  Vienna Circle and, 273

  Whitehead and, 304, 305

  Wittgenstein and, 302–3

  work/workers and, 308

  world views of, 307, 309

  World War I and, 304, 307

  Russell, Bertrand—works by:

  Autobiography, 78

  Behaviorism and Values, 306

  The Conquest of Happiness, 306

  The Danger of Creed Wars, 306

  Eastern and Western Ideals of Happiness, 306

  Satan in the Suburbs, 306

  Why I Am Not a Christian, 306

  Russia:

  Bolsheviks in, 200–219, 541n

  holidays in, 218

  intelligentsia in, 205–6

  Marxism in, 202

  Russia (continued)

  poetry in, 206

  religion in, 204–6

  revolutions/civil war in, 201, 213, 216

  Rilke’s visits to, 227, 228

  Rosenberg and, 316

  Russell’s views about, 303

  and Soviet troops at Auschwitz, 330

  theosophy in, 180

  World War I and, 190, 192, 200–201

  See also Bolsheviks; communism; Marxism; specific person’s views

  sacrifice, 207, 344, 374

  Safranski, Rudiger, 221–22

  Saint-Exupéry, Antoine de, 342–45, 347, 399

  Saint-Point, Valentine de, 47, 543

  saintliness: James’s (William) views about, 58

  salvation:

  belief as basis of, 29

 
communism and, 215

  counterculture and, 429, 438

  drugs and, 416

  Expressionism and, 121

  happiness and, 432

  Jewish views about, 373, 377

  machines and, 91

  postmodernism and, 499

  and “psychological turn” in America, 362

  Russian intelligentsia views about, 206

  science as, 487–88

  self-realization as replacement for, 368

  size of life and, 544–45

  “thingness” as alternative to, 74

  war as, 190, 191

  See also specific person’s views

  Samurai (philosopher-kings): Wells’s views about, 137

  Santayana, George, 66–70, 94, 96, 108, 128, 161, 245, 537–38, 539, 546, 553–54

  Sartre, Jean-Paul, 334–40, 345–49

  and action, 348, 349

  art/artists and, 349

  Beckett’s views about, 389

  change and, 346

  community and, 349

  Csikszentmihalyi and, 534

  decisiveness and, 349, 350

  as existentialist, 334–36

  and freedom, 346, 347–48, 349, 350

  French Resistance and, 334

  and fulfillment, 460

  and God, 336, 347, 350

  and God is dead, 347

  and good, 347

  and human nature, 347

  and humanism, 349

  and identity, 346

  life and, 350

  and love, 349

  Merleau-Ponty lectures and, 340

  and morals, 349

  Paris lectures of, 238, 335–36

  petites heureuses of, 182, 460, 554

  and phenomenology, 460, 541

  and poetry, 147–48

  and pragmatism, 347

  and reality, 349

  and responsibility, 350

  salvation and, 350

  and sin, 350

  and singing, 505

  Temps modernes journal and, 338–39

  “tyranny of concepts” of, 398

  and universality, 349

  values and, 348, 349

  World War II impact on, 346–47

  Sartre, Jean-Paul—works by:

  “Existentialism Is a Humanism” (lecture), 335, 338, 346–47

  Les petites heureuses, 182

  Les Temps modernes, 338, 339

  Mallarmé, or the Poet of Nothingness, 147

  “Portrait of the Anti-Semite,” 346

  Sassoon, Siegfried, 194–95, 303

  Saturday Club. See Metaphysical Club

  Saxon tradition, 321

  Schiller, Friedrich, 118, 284

  Schlick, Moritz, 273, 274

  Schoenberg, Arnold, 180–81

  Schopenhauer, Arthur, 23, 163, 301, 436, 533

  Schumpeter, Joseph, 332

  Schweitzer, Albert, 57n, 311

  Schwitters, Kurt, 119

  science:

  achievements of, 471

  aims of, 456, 460, 488, 540, 541

  as alternative to religion, 540

  art compared with, 455

  benefits of, 514, 554

  capitalism and, 540

  children’s education in, 541

  communism and, 215

  counterculture and, 410, 413, 426, 427, 428

  desire and, 540, 542–43

  engagement with, 542

  existentialists and, 336–37

  humanities’ link with, 483–85

  and ideal world, 494

  impact of, 541–43, 544

  Impressionism and, 113–14

  influence on psychology of, 351

  Marxism and, 213–14

  meaning of life and, 29

  morality and, 29, 540

  and move away from materialism, 19

  as myth, 481

  naming and, 550

  nature and, 541

  in 1950s, 368

  occult and, 167, 179

  opposition to/criticisms of, 55, 58n, 541

  phenomenology and, 73, 75, 544

  philosophy and, 516

  philosophy of, 492

  “poetic,” 470

  poetry and, 148, 159, 460, 542

  post–World War II, 351

  postmodernism and, 499

  pragmatism and, 64, 65

  psychoanalysis as, 89

  as realm of life, 554

  reasoning of, 525

  of religion, 59

  religion and, 11, 24, 59, 218, 469–72, 515, 523, 540

  as salvation, 487–88

  secularization and, 540–41

  of the soul, 485–86

  successes of, 506

  surrealism and, 198

  Theosophy and, 167, 168

  truth and, 29, 455, 540, 544

  unfitness of, 27–29

  unity and, 524–25, 544

  Vienna Circle and, 274

  See also evolution; specific person’s views or science

  scientific atheism, 204, 217

  scientists: emotional reactions of, 5, 522–23

  scorn, 349–50

  Scriabin, Alexander, 180–81, 190

  Scruton, Roger, 58n, 546, 554

  Scythians, 212–13

  séances, 169, 173, 174, 179, 180, 288

  Second World War. See World War II

  “Secret Germany,” George’s, 154, 157–60

  secularism:

  aim of, 539

  apotheosis of, 498–99

  communism and, 214–17

  as complementary to religion, 11–12

  education and, 240–41

  effects of, 238–43

  globalization and, 28

  happiness and, 432

  high point of, 7

  how to find meaning in, 8

  Impressionism and, 113

  as lacking in something, 5

  modern art and, 111

  modernization and, 10, 14

  as narrative of progress, 539

  in 1950s, 368

  “permissive turn” and, 331

  relationship of religion to, 2–6, 526–27, 528

  and religion as sociology, 11–13

  science and, 540–41

  spread of, 497

  theory of, 10, 14, 17

  theothanatology and, 382, 383, 384, 385

  See also specific person’s views

  security, 11–13, 87, 104, 116, 121, 243, 415, 431, 434, 438

  self:

  acceptance of, 365, 446

  aim of life and, 516

  beauty and, 536

  counterculture’s views about, 411, 414, 420, 427, 428, 437

  “discursive Christianity” and, 28

  enlargement of, 516

  essential, 162

  Expressionism and, 120, 121, 122

  giving of, 102

  happiness and, 435, 444

  illusions about, 254

  self (continued)

  and importance of poetry, 147

  Jewish views about, 377

  limitation of, 444, 446

  love of, 272, 359, 445

  multiple, 98, 99, 130, 268, 461

  number of, 64

  optimism about, 368

  porous versus buffered, 6–8

  psychoanalysis and, 65

  responsibility to, 554

  self-contained, 64

  as superstition, 130

  therapeutic approach and, 446

  transcendence of, 370, 371


  unity of, 512, 536

  See also specific person’s views

  self-actualization, 363–64, 365, 368, 370, 414, 415, 434, 546

  self-awareness, 4, 103, 221, 517

  self-consciousness, 104, 114, 164, 434, 520

  self-creation, 39, 64

  self-discovery, 354, 377

  self-esteem, 415, 445

  self-help manuals/books, 435, 438, 443

  self-interest, 131, 480

  self-knowledge, 122, 269, 408

  self-mastery, 351, 362. See also self-realization

  self-realization, 68, 131, 204, 349, 351, 358–59, 368

  self-respect, 519, 521, 548, 549

  self-understanding, 255, 256, 302, 336, 337, 352–55, 526, 528

  selfish gene, 548

  selfishness, 453, 489

  Sennett, Richard, 533–34

  sense. See common sense

  senses/sensation, 129, 169, 234, 340, 414, 419, 462

  Seurat, Georges, 111, 113–14, 115, 119

  Seventh-Day Adventists, 178

  sex:

  children and, 284, 308, 356, 357

  counterculture and, 411, 414, 424, 427

  fear and, 543

  in 1920s, 241

  as “peak experience,” 414

  See also erotic; specific person’s views

  shadow culture, American, 177–79

  Shakers, 177

  Shakespeare, William, 155, 165, 266, 268, 291, 453, 475, 533

  shamanism, 177, 422

  shared fictions: of James (Henry), 133–35, 235, 294

  Shattuck, Roger, 122–24, 125

  Shaw, George Bernard, 44, 99–105, 128, 136, 164, 166, 170, 251, 268, 537

  Shaw, George Bernard—works by:

  Androcles and the Lion, 104

  Back to Methuselah, 101, 103, 104

  Candida, 103

  Don Juan, 102

  Heartbreak House, 100

  Major Barbara, 103–4

  Man and Superman, 101

  Pygmalion, 99

  The Quintessence of Ibsenism, 99

  Sheen, Monsignor Fulton, 362, 366

  Shelley, Percy Bysshe, 150, 465

  Shestov, Lev, 206, 207–8

  Simmel, Georg, 37, 42

  simultanism, 126

  sin:

  children and, 356

  “Crisis Theology” and, 312

  desire and, 543

  Jewish views about, 375

  original, 309, 316, 318, 320, 350, 356, 368, 389

  See also specific person’s views

  singing, 230–31, 232, 550, 551. See also music

  situation ethics, 366–67, 477

  Six-Day War, 378, 379

  Sobornost, 206–9

  social contract, 503

  social Darwinism, 51, 323, 489

  social science, 351, 481, 483–85, 488

  social service, religion of, 192

  socialism:

  and Bolshevik crusade, 200–219

  nationalism and, 200

  and Nietzsche’s popularity, 52

  occult and, 179

 

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