Author(s): Alex Rosenberg

Philosophy

We can't avoid the persistent questions about the meaning of life and the nature of reality. Alex Rosenberg maintains that science is the only thing that can really answer all of these questions. His bracing and ultimately upbeat book takes physics seriously as the complete description of reality and accepts all its consequences. He shows how physics makes Darwinian natural selection the only way life can emerge, and how that deprives nature of purpose and human action of meaning, while it exposes conscious illusions such as free will and the self. The science that makes us non-believers provides the insight into the difference between right and wrong, the nature of the mind, even the direction of human history. The Atheist's Guide to Reality offers nice nihilism, a surprisingly sanguine perspective atheists can happily embrace.