"If we go back to the beginning we shall find that ignorance and fear created the gods; that fancy, enthusiasm, or deceit adorned or disfigured them; that weakness worships them; that credulity preserves them, and that custom, respect and tyranny support them."
It’s provocative stuff even today and certainly was in 1770 when published by Baron D’Holbach in his book The System of Nature. The baron’s boldness was underpinned by Materialism, a philosophical idea so dangerous that every copy of the book was condemned to be burnt
But what does materialism really mean
can we still have free will
Contributors
Anthony Grayling, Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London
Caroline Warman, Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford
Anthony O’Hear, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Buckingham
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clipped from: www.bbc.co.uk 