Sense and Goodness Without God: A Defense of Metaphysical Naturalism

Richard Carrier attempts to do a lot with this book, which is namely to describe and defend his entire worldview: metaphysical naturalism. As such, he succeeds at the former and fails somewhat in the latter. Do to the sheer amount of subjects he covers, there were bound to be mistakes and his last two essays, natural beauty and natural politics, more rooted in opinion than science, are definitely his weakest points. Instead of painting a bibliography at the end of the book, he puts each reference at the end of its pertinent section, at times even listing opposing voices to his own. As such, this is also a good starting point to begin an investigation into many subjects.

The author did a very good job of building his case. He used logic and reason to demonstratrate that metaphysical naturalism is the only worldview that is supported by the evidence. Carrier also made an honest effort to present a Christian refutation to his views; and convincingly debunked dissenting points. I didn't necessarily like that he focussed so much time on the writings of JP Moreland but I would have to assume that he did so to give a consistent Christian perspective which was aimed at actively criticising his own work. There were certainly positions with which I would not be in full agreement with the author but I got the feeling that we could have a great time discussing our differences over a few beers. All in all, this show more book was well worth the considerable time it took me to read it. show less