作者:
Alain De Botton 出版社: Pantheon 副标题: A Non-believer's Guide to the Uses of Religion 原作名: Allain de Botton 出版年: 2012-3-6 页数: 320 定价: USD 26.95 装帧: Hardcover ISBN: 9780307379108
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 astonishi...
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.
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 ...
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.
最近先后读了乔斯坦 .贾德（ Jostein Gaarder）和阿兰 .德波顿（ Alan De Botton）的新书。两位都是我喜欢的大众哲学传播人，两本新书碰巧撞车，都在宗教信仰上做文章。 贾德谈宗教，比如神导论，并不算新鲜。风靡全球的《苏菲的世界》里面，小女孩席德的父亲隐入幕后，代理...
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http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/alain_de_botton_atheism_2_0.html One of the most common ways of dividing the world is into those who believe and those who don't -- into the religious and the atheists. And for the last decade or so, it's been quite clear w...
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![[英国] 阿兰·德波顿](https://img3.doubanio.com/view/personage/m/public/0614993b1f68995d96ca35f6b5a2f66f.jpg)
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0 有用 榛子姐姐 2013-07-05 22:43:14
这是我的男神，就算现在谢顶了也是男神！
0 有用 Déjà-vu 2013-12-09 06:28:04
无神论者并非等同于对宗教|信仰完全无概念或者生活里没有任何精神支撑力量的人 感觉定位写作对象时将不同群体混为一谈了
1 有用 Julie 2014-08-11 15:59:46
This book has answered many questions that I have had for years! Amazing.
0 有用 王小柔 2020-06-29 13:11:42
很多有意思的观点，特别是对liberty和virtue的讨论在现世中很relevant。不过扩充的篇幅有点长，长度缩短一半也能讲清楚。
0 有用 oooops 2017-06-20 18:38:03
拋開教義和信仰真實性來分析宗教在世俗上帶來的好處，角度真新穎。只是沒有信仰的支撐，我覺得這一切都是不可行的。
0 有用 豆友203999453 2022-01-17 22:58:14
对我来说的观感有点高开地走了， 很喜欢开头宗教作为community纽带跟餐厅的类比，后面有点越写约闷
1 有用 алба колосова 2021-05-16 19:35:41
Today, to be a believer is to be someone caring about the soul while most others don’t.
0 有用 春日影 2020-12-27 15:38:13
跳过了一些章节，感觉不够深刻吧
0 有用 bayonne 2020-07-13 10:10:04
50%，反思为什么再喜欢一本书都无法像宗教经典一样时时翻阅？
0 有用 拇指儿 2020-07-08 00:04:24
阿兰德波顿实乃奇人！全书真知、洞见无处不在：当21世纪的人类过快地抛弃宗教裹入世俗社会的洪流，到底宗教能给无神论者怎样的指引。 今天一口气看了Art, Architecture, Institution三章近120页内容。其中宗教利用有系统有组织的“institutions”达到了巨大的传播力和影响力，可堪比拟今日之跨国商业举头。当跨国商业公司照顾着人类吃喝拉撒日常用度的需求时，宗教用着同样庞大... 阿兰德波顿实乃奇人！全书真知、洞见无处不在：当21世纪的人类过快地抛弃宗教裹入世俗社会的洪流，到底宗教能给无神论者怎样的指引。 今天一口气看了Art, Architecture, Institution三章近120页内容。其中宗教利用有系统有组织的“institutions”达到了巨大的传播力和影响力，可堪比拟今日之跨国商业举头。当跨国商业公司照顾着人类吃喝拉撒日常用度的需求时，宗教用着同样庞大的组织架构照顾着大多数人的精神需求。 启蒙运动、科技革命渐渐使人们对宗教破幻，而摒弃宗教后人的精神、心灵需求却没有类似宗教这样庞大的体系加以看顾。承担着人类智识前沿的知识分子，多单打独斗，清高自持不擅长利用系统扩大影响。利用类似宗教的系统机构，对抗消费主义，照顾人们的精神和心灵，是德波顿的建议。 (展开)