Religion for Atheists

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Q&A with Author Alain De Botton

Q: Is it possible to be a good person without religion?

A: The problem of the man without religion is that he forgets. We all know in theory what we should do to be good. The problem is that in practice, we forget. And we forget because the modern secular world always thinks that it is enough to tell someone something once (be good, remember the poor etc.) But all religions disagree here: they insist that if anyone is to stand a chance of remembering anything, they need reminders on a daily, perhaps even hourly basis.

Q: What do you think of the aggressive atheism we have seen in the past few years?

A: I am an atheist, but a gentle one. I don't feel the need to mock anyone who believes. I really disagree with the hard tone of some atheists who approach religion like a silly fairy tale. I am deeply respectful of religion, but I believe none of its supernatural aspects. So my position is perhaps unusual: I am at once very respectful and completely impious.

Q: Are you nostalgic for the deeply religious past?

A: Like many people, of course I feel nostalgic. How is it possible not to feel nostalgic when you look at 15th frescoes or the rituals of an ancient carnival? However, we have to ask: how should I respond to my nostalgia? My thought is that we can use it creatively, as the basis for a rebirth, for the creation of new things, for the creation of things that later generations will feel nostalgic about... So it frustrates me when people say things like, 'Well, they knew how to build in the 15th century, now it is impossible...' Why! Anything is possible. We should not sigh nostalgically over religion, we should learn from them. We should steal from them.

Q: If we were to replace religion with a secular equivalent, who would be our gurus?

A: We don't need a central structure. We are beyond the age of gurus and inspirational leaders. We are in the age of the Wiki structure. This means that it is up to all of us to look at religion and see what bits we can steal and place into the modern world. We might all contribute to the construction of new temples, not the government, but the concerned, interested individual. The salvation of the individual soul remains a serious problem--even when we dismiss the idea of God. In the 20th century, capitalism has really solved (in the rich West) the material problems of a significant portion of mankind. But the spiritual needs are still in chaos, with religion ceasing to answer the need. This is why I wrote my book, to show that there remains a new way: a way of filling the modern world with so many important lessons from religion, and yet not needing to return to any kind of occult spirituality.

Q: Don't you think that, in order to truly appreciate religious music and art, you have to be a believer--or, at least, don't you think that non-believers miss something important in the experience?

A: I am interested in the modern claim that we have now found a way to replace religion: with art. You often hear people say, 'Museums are our new churches'. It's a nice idea, but it's not true, and it's principally not true because of the way that museums are laid out and present art. They prevent anyone from having an emotional relationship with the works on display. They encourage an academic interest, but prevent a more didactic and therapeutic kind of contact. I recommend in my book that even if we don't believe, we learn to use art (even secular art) as a resource for comfort, identification, guidance and edification, very much what religions do with art.

出版者:Pantheon
作者:[英] 阿兰·德波顿
出品人:
页数:320
译者:
出版时间:2012-3-6
价格:USD 26.95
装帧:Hardcover
isbn号码:9780307379108
丛书系列:
图书标签:
  • 哲学 
  • 宗教 
  • 阿兰·德波顿 
  • Allen.De.Botton 
  • 文化 
  • 英国 
  • 随笔 
  • 神学 
  •  
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From the author of The Consolations of Philosophy, a deeply provocative and useful argument about how we can benefit from the wisdom and power of religion—without having to “believe” in any of it.

What if religions aren’t either all true or all nonsense?

The sterile debate between fundamentalist believers and non-believers is finally advanced by Alain de Botton’s astonishing new book, which boldly argues that the supernatural claims of religion are of course entirely false—and yet religion still has some very important things to teach the secular world.

Religion for Atheists suggests that atheists shouldn’t trash religion, they should steal from it—because the world’s religions are packed with good ideas on how we should live in and arrange our societies. In a highly original and readable tone that blends deep respect with total impiety, de Botton (a non-believer himself) proposes that we should look to religions for insights on, among other topics, how to: build a sense of community, make our relationships last, dampen feelings of envy and inadequacy, escape the 24-hour media world, go traveling, get more out of art, and build new businesses geared around our emotional needs.

For too long non-believers have faced a stark choice between either swallowing lots of peculiar doctrines or doing away with a range of consoling and beautiful rituals and ideas. At last, Alain de Botton, the author of the bestselling The Consolations of Philosophy and How Proust Can Change Your Life , has produced a far more interesting and truly helpful alternative.

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读后感

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打开这本书的时候,我正反思自己以看书作为爱好的原因。同样地,在每次看完书后写下读后感的目的,应该不仅仅是针对某一本书的感想,而是,从一本书引发对自己生活的感悟。所以,写一本书与自己的故事的乐趣远远大于单单写一篇读后感。 买书,有惊喜,也有遗憾,在开始读一本...  

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我基本上也可以算是一个德波顿的粉丝,从第一本《哲学的慰藉》开始,就对这个“英伦才子”的文字格外倾心,后来《旅行的艺术》和《身份的焦虑》也没有让我失望,虽说对于《爱情笔记》这类的文学作品并不感冒,但完全无损于我对于作者的喜爱。正是因为如此,当我看到《写给无神...  

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该书透露出德波顿一贯的反思,作为一个无神论者质疑自己的无神论,对其他无神论者很有启迪。宗教对宇宙世界的理解或许是有些偏颇主观的,但是它给予信徒的信仰力量却是可贵的。国内的主流媒体天天都在宣传“幸福感”、“正能量”,用那些“感动中国”来煽情,或许能短时间地刺...  

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本书内容2星,另加1星感情分,不枉我追他十年。 德波顿是我最喜欢的作家之一,但是,即便如此,我也得说自己很不喜欢这本书。但凡喜欢只需一个理由,不喜欢却有无数个理由。这里,只简略提一些。 “我们绝不缺乏可用来取代宗教圣典的文化材料,只是我们在用错误的方法对待这份...  

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我是无神论者........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................  

用户评价

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这是我的男神,就算现在谢顶了也是男神!

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拿这本书做精读的。书本身对我的启发也特别大!

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开头和结束章比较闷,中间比如教育很好看,谈艺术那部分太短了,再展开点就好。虽然作者说一书之力绵薄,他的写作保持连贯关注人的内在世界,观点也在不断重申,是德波顿式的“宗教”

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不愧是英伦才子。书很治愈很insightful

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