Society

Warren Bonett (ed.): The Australian Book of Atheism

by •
March 2011, no. 329
Society

Warren Bonett (ed.): The Australian Book of Atheism

by •
March 2011, no. 329

On the attack

Timothy Roberts

 

The Australian Book of Atheism
edited by Warren Bonett
Scribe, $35 pb, 442 pp, 9781921640766

 

Once mainly associated with shrill killjoys and desiccated reductionists, atheism has recently received a jolt of adrenaline from Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, and others. Yet while these writers delight in exposing religion’s philosophical deficiencies, their tone is predominantly negative. Fortunately, The Australian Book of Atheism goes beyond simply rehashing the New Atheists’ explanations of Why God Doesn’t Exist. Divided into ‘Overview’, ‘Personal’, ‘Education’, ‘Social and Cultural’, ‘Politics’, ‘Philosophy’, and ‘Religion and the Brain’, this collection offers a more nuanced picture of atheism than does the recent crop of celebrity-authored blockbusters.

Leave a comment
Timothy Roberts

Timothy Roberts is a Melbourne-based writer whose current interests include Victorian literature, evolutionary biology and Roman history. His essays, reviews and articles have been published in The Age, College Literature, The Australian Rationalist, The New Matilda and The European Legacy, among many others. He is also the author of four student guides to classic and modern works of literature. Much of his writing can be found on his website.

Leave a comment
Timothy Roberts

Timothy Roberts is a Melbourne-based writer whose current interests include Victorian literature, evolutionary biology and Roman history. His essays, reviews and articles have been published in The Age, College Literature, The Australian Rationalist, The New Matilda and The European Legacy, among many others. He is also the author of four student guides to classic and modern works of literature. Much of his writing can be found on his website.

From the New Issue

You May Also Like

Leave a comment

If you are an ABR subscriber, you will need to sign in to post a comment.

If you have forgotten your sign in details, or if you receive an error message when trying to submit your comment, please email your comment (and the name of the article to which it relates) to ABR Comments. We will review your comment and, subject to approval, we will post it under your name.

Please note that all comments must be approved by ABR and comply with our Terms & Conditions.