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adnielsen's review against another edition
4.0
Good introduction to humanism though this VSI is a bit longer (~140 pages) than a typical VSI release (~100 pages). A lot of nice discussion giving alternating view points (religious vs non-religious) was presented here and it gave me pause at many occasions to self reflect. One of the best VSI releases I’ve read.
solanpolarn's review against another edition
4.0
Quite similar to the Atheism book in this series with counter arguments to the need for god for morals, and other common arguments against non-theism.
neil_denham's review against another edition
2.0
The first chapter was informative, and the last 3 chapters on ethics and ceremonies did shed some light on what Humanism is about, sadly the bulk of the book is the authors own arguments for atheism (or more accurately against religion) and Humanism in this book is termed in the negative, whereas I was more interested in what it actually IS. A letdown in the usually brilliant short introductions series.
dadia's review against another edition
1.0
Very disappointing read. Conflates atheism with humanism and gives no real indication that humanism is anything other than an anti-thesis to religion. It might have been called "ATHEISM: A Very Short Introduction" and I would've been immensely satisfied.
bibliothecarivs's review against another edition
4.0
Presents the central ideas of Humanism in a logical, accessible, and succinct fashion.
rachaelbee0402's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
Very occasionally I thought some arguments were rather weak and more emotionally or common-sense driven than logical, but overall I very much enjoyed reading it! I much preferred the latter half (when it steered off God).
Not only did it educate and inform me and make me interested in learning more about Humanism and the topics covered, it made me want to fight for causes! Rarely am I committed to values that make me want to get up and protest etc (I often don't strongly associate with particular political parties or values – I tend to sit on the fence a little, understanding the views but not to the extent of promoting them and quashing others), but with this... I feel much more strongly about the topics covered here.
So a very enjoyable book. Though I can’t hide my slight disappointment that it didn’t tell me the actual meaning of life by the end. Sigh.
Very occasionally I thought some arguments were rather weak and more emotionally or common-sense driven than logical, but overall I very much enjoyed reading it! I much preferred the latter half (when it steered off God).
Not only did it educate and inform me and make me interested in learning more about Humanism and the topics covered, it made me want to fight for causes! Rarely am I committed to values that make me want to get up and protest etc (I often don't strongly associate with particular political parties or values – I tend to sit on the fence a little, understanding the views but not to the extent of promoting them and quashing others), but with this... I feel much more strongly about the topics covered here.
So a very enjoyable book. Though I can’t hide my slight disappointment that it didn’t tell me the actual meaning of life by the end. Sigh.
juditkovacs's review
4.0
Very good short introduction. It does linger on counter-apologetics a bit more than needed. And the constant mention of Mao and Stalin and their regimes as being the bad atheist regimes is a bit off putting for me, but all in all a good introduction. Some of the counter arguments are surprisingly clear and strong even for me, a long time atheist.
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