Former world affairs correspondent Paul Mann will host Tuesday’s special broadcast with Susan Armstrong, Episcopal priest and HSU Professor Emerita of Philosophy; HSU Philosophy Professor Mary Bockover; HSU Associate Professor of Philosophy Benjamin Shaeffer; and Nick Frank, co-organizer of Humboldt State’s 2012 Philosophy Forum on Apr. 20/21.
“The New Atheism” refers to a surge in recent years of best-selling books by popular atheist authors including Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, the late Christopher Hitchens and physicist Victor Stenger. In general, the New Atheists contend that faith and theology should be challenged aggressively, not passively, for fueling ignorance, superstition and extremism, whether Islamic or Christian fundamentalist.
Stenger will kick off HSU’s Philosophy Forum on Friday evening, Apr. 20, at 7 p.m. in room 166 of the Behavioral and Social Sciences Building with a keynote address derived from his new book, “God and the Folly of Faith.”
The Forum will continue Saturday, Apr. 21, at 9 a.m. in the same BSS location, room 166. Armstrong will discuss science and theology. Scott Sattler, MD and a student of Universal Sufism, will address “Mysticism: The Search for Truth beyond Reason.” Bockover will explore “Confucian Ritual as Body Language of Self, Society and Spirit.” Shaeffer will ask, “Is Atheism a Matter of Faith?”
Information about KHSU’s Apr. 17 broadcast is available at 707/826-4805 or 826-6074.