Humanism and the Death of God: Searching for the Good After Darwin, Marx, and Nietzsche

Humanism and the Death of God is a critical exploration of secular humanism and its discontents. Through close readings of three exemplary nineteenth-century philosophical naturalists or materialists, who perhaps more than anyone set the stage for our contemporary quandaries when it comes to questions of human nature and moral obligation, Ronald E. Osborn argues that "the death of God" ultimately tends toward the death of liberal understandings of the human as well. Any fully persuasive defense of humanistic values--including the core humanistic concepts of inviolable dignity, rights, and equality attaching to each individual--requires an essentially religious vision of personhood. Osborn shows such a vision is found in an especially dramatic and historically consequential way in the scandalous particularity of the Christian narrative of God becoming a human. He does not attempt to provide logical proofs for the central claims of Christian humanism along the lines some philosophers might demand. Instead, this study demonstrates how philosophical naturalism or materialism, and secular humanisms and anti-humanisms, might be persuasively read from the perspective of a classically orthodox Christian faith.

About the Author :
Ronald E. Osborn is an independent scholar, previously Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in the Peace and Justice Studies Program at Wellesley College.

Review :
"The argument is simple, clearly written, broadly documented, and conceptually careful: the naturalism that converts scientific method into metaphysics cannot provide a theoretically cogent and compelling basis for our commitment to human rights, the dignity of every person, and equality. The case is often made in the words of Darwin, Marx, and Nietzsche themselves. The retelling from the "slave revolt in morality", retold from a biblical perspective, is stunning." --Merold Westphal, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy Emeritus, Fordham University "For anyone committed to secular humanism, it remains disquieting, as Ronald Osborn insists, how difficult it is to defend notions of human dignity, inviolable rights, and basic equality without the religious imaginary thanks to which they all came to the world. After demonstrating how some of the most famous philosophical naturalists - Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, and Friedrich Nietzsche - left essential values unjustified, Osborn intrepidly recalls how important Christianity in particular has been to the assertion of modern human rights. This book is finely wrought for both believers and skeptics alike." --Samuel Moyn, Harvard University, author of Christian Human Rights "The topic of Osborn's book is familiar: does secular naturalism have the resources required for the endurance of humanist values and for commitment to human rights? Osborn's treatment of the topic is anything but familiar. He conducts his case for a negative answer to the question by engaging in a probing analysis of Darwin, Marx, and Nietzsche. The analyses of these three great figures are original, deep, and balanced. The overall argument is compelling, never overstated. The breadth of literature brought into the discussion is amazing. The writing is superb." --Nicholas Wolterstorff, Noah Porter Professor of Philosophical Theology, Yale University and Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, University of Virginia