Category Archives: Morality

Richard Dawkins, THE GOD DELUSION, post 2

Posted on Friday 14 November 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

(Houghton Mifflin, Oct. 2006, 406pp, including 26pp of appendix, books cited, notes, and index) (Post 1) Here are the first four chapters (out of ten), which deal with the arguments for and against the existence of God, summarized in 3700 … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Morality, Religion | Comments Off on Richard Dawkins, THE GOD DELUSION, post 2

Jonathan Haidt, THE HAPPINESS HYPOTHESIS, post 5 (conclusion)

Posted on Tuesday 11 November 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled “Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom” With second subtitle “Why the Meaningful Life is Closer than You Think” (Basic Books, 2006, xiii + 297pp, including 54pp acknowledgements, notes, references, and index. Hardcover with no dust jacket.) (Post 1, Post … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Human Nature, Meaning, Morality, Philosophy, Psychology | Comments Off on Jonathan Haidt, THE HAPPINESS HYPOTHESIS, post 5 (conclusion)

The Absence of Empathy

Posted on Friday 7 November 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

I’m still working this past week on summarizing and assessing the 2006 Jonathan Haidt book THE HAPPINESS HYPOTHESIS. I can’t quite wrap it up today, or soon, because we’re doing a quick trip down and back to LA tomorrow and … Continue reading →

Posted in conservatives, Morality | Comments Off on The Absence of Empathy

Jonathan Haidt, THE HAPPINESS HYPOTHESIS, post 4

Posted on Friday 7 November 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled “Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom” With second subtitle “Why the Meaningful Life is Closer than You Think” (Basic Books, 2006, xiii + 297pp, including 54pp acknowledgements, notes, references, and index. Hardcover with no dust jacket.) (Post 1, Post … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Human Nature, Meaning, Morality, Psychology | Comments Off on Jonathan Haidt, THE HAPPINESS HYPOTHESIS, post 4

Jonathan Haidt, THE HAPPINESS HYPOTHESIS, post 3

Posted on Thursday 6 November 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled “Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom” With second subtitle “Why the Meaningful Life is Closer than You Think” (Basic Books, 2006, xiii + 297pp, including 54pp acknowledgements, notes, references, and index. Hardcover with no dust jacket.) (Post 1, Post … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Human Nature, Meaning, Morality | Comments Off on Jonathan Haidt, THE HAPPINESS HYPOTHESIS, post 3

Jonathan Haidt, THE HAPPINESS HYPOTHESIS, post 2

Posted on Wednesday 5 November 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled “Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom” With second subtitle “Why the Meaningful Life is Closer than You Think” (Basic Books, 2006, xiii + 297pp, including 54pp acknowledgements, notes, references, and index. Hardcover with no dust jacket.) (Post 1) Once … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Human Nature, Morality, Psychology | Comments Off on Jonathan Haidt, THE HAPPINESS HYPOTHESIS, post 2

Jonathan Haidt, THE HAPPINESS HYPOTHESIS, post 1

Posted on Tuesday 4 November 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled “Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom” With second subtitle “Why the Meaningful Life is Closer than You Think” (Basic Books, 2006, xiii + 297pp, including 54pp acknowledgements, notes, references, and index. Hardcover with no dust jacket.) Here is a … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Meaning, Morality, Psychology | Comments Off on Jonathan Haidt, THE HAPPINESS HYPOTHESIS, post 1

Sam Harris: THE MORAL LANDSCAPE

Posted on Thursday 30 October 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled “How Science Can Determine Human Values” (Free Press, Oct. 2010, 291pp, including 100pp of acknowledgements, notes, references, and index) Sam Harris came to fame in the years after 9/11 for writing a critique of religion called THE END OF … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Morality, Religion | Comments Off on Sam Harris: THE MORAL LANDSCAPE

Useful Categories

Posted on Wednesday 29 October 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Five ideas to tell when America has become a dictatorship; A Jesus and Mo cartoon that reflects my discussions of secular awe and religion; Phil Zuckerman on how social justice is secular; Short items about worries of American’s impending population … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Morality, Politics, Science | Comments Off on Useful Categories

Moral Rot

Posted on Tuesday 28 October 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Paul Krugman on food stamps/SNAP; the common conservative belief that recipients are malingerers; and some facts about who actually gets those benefits; The Labor Department’s white supremacist posters; Short items; Dr. Warren J. Blumenfeld on Trump’s disrespect, and how he’s … Continue reading →

Posted in conservatives, Morality | Comments Off on Moral Rot