Humanism and the Death of God
Searching for the Good After Darwin, Marx, and Nietzsche
Ronald E. Osborn
Reviews and Awards
"When a book contains impressive erudition, careful analysis, felicitous writing and a clearly stated thesis, a wide array of students and scholars should read it. Ronald E. Osborn's Humanism and the Death of God: Searching for the Good After Darwin, Marx, and Nietzsche is such a book." -- James J. Londis, Reading Religion
"Osborn covers ground familiar to students of the Enlightenment, but he does so with such clarity, depth, candor, and feistiness as to repulse the sense of the commonplace and intensify the urgency of the message - both for the wider society and for the church itself ... Humanism and the Death of God belongs in the library of every pastor whose congregation needs a reminder of its relevance and responsibility." --Charles Scriven, Christian Century
"The argument is simple, clearly written, broadly documented, and conceptually careful: the naturalism that converts scientific method into metaphysics cannot provide a theoretically cogent and compelling basis for our commitment to human rights, the dignity of every person, and equality. The case is often made in the words of Darwin, Marx, and Nietzsche themselves. The retelling from the "slave revolt in morality", retold from a biblical perspective, is stunning." --Merold Westphal, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy Emeritus, Fordham University
"For anyone committed to secular humanism, it remains disquieting, as Ronald Osborn insists, how difficult it is to defend notions of human dignity, inviolable rights, and basic equality without the religious imaginary thanks to which they all came to the world. After demonstrating how some of the most famous philosophical naturalists - Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, and Friedrich Nietzsche - left essential values unjustified, Osborn intrepidly recalls how important Christianity in particular has been to the assertion of modern human rights. This book is finely wrought for both believers and skeptics alike." --Samuel Moyn, Harvard University, author of Christian Human Rights
"The topic of Osborn's book is familiar: does secular naturalism have the resources required for the endurance of humanist values and for commitment to human rights? Osborn's treatment of the topic is anything but familiar. He conducts his case for a negative answer to the question by engaging in a probing analysis of Darwin, Marx, and Nietzsche. The analyses of these three great figures are original, deep, and balanced. The overall argument is compelling, never overstated. The breadth of literature brought into the discussion is amazing. The writing is superb." --Nicholas Wolterstorff, Noah Porter Professor of Philosophical Theology, Yale University and Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, University of Virginia
