The Evolution of Religion

Saturday 12^th November 2.00pm 
Moordown Community Centre, Coronation Avenue, Moordown Bournemouth BH9 1TW

With Senior Lecturer in Psychology Dr Michael E. Price

‘Is it Adaptive to Believe in a Higher Power?’ The consensus among evolutionary psychologists is that religiosity is a non-adaptive by-product of psychological mechanisms that evolved for other purposes. However, a great deal of scientific evidence now suggests that religion offers survival benefits, and that being religious can actually increase your life expectancy. So, why is there a positive relationship between religiosity and survival, and does this relationship suggest that religiosity is in fact an adaptation? Addressing these issues can produce valuable insights for both the religious and non-religious alike. Dr Michael E. Price is Senior Lecturer in Psychology, and Director of the Centre for Culture and Evolution, at Brunel University London. His research focuses on the evolutionary psychology of human social behaviour, morality, and religiosity.

“Join us for a fascinating exploration of the evolution of, and evolutionary significance of, religious beliefs”

Free entry (donations appreciated).     Everyone welcome!

Please indicate your interest in attending this event on Meetup.com and/or facebook as it helps raise our group’s profile on these sites (Meetup also offers you timely email reminders and an easy way to discover other interesting groups in your area). To help you find them, here are the direct links to our event listings on these sites:

http://www.meetup.com/Dorset-Humanists/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/dorsethumanists/events/

You can also help us promote Dorset Humanists and this event by displaying an A4 poster. Download an A4 printable copy here, or email Dave at DHcensus(at)hotmail.co.uk for a PDF.

Click here to view details of other forthcoming and recent events on this website.

Is God Required for Morality?

Wednesday 24^th August 7.30pm
The Green House Hotel,  4 Grove Road, Bournemouth BH1 3AX

With Philosopher and Author Jonathan MS Pearce

While most religious believers agree that atheists are capable of living moral lives, many claim that questions of right and wrong ultimately collapse into relativism and subjectivity without a religious foundation. In this thought-provoking presentation, philosopher Jonathan Pearce will present a wide range of arguments challenging the claim that God is necessary for morality, and he will show that empathy, compassion, reason and science are all that are required to build a sound moral framework. More controversially, he will demonstrate that the theist’s God must himself be a consequentialist, and that Christians place themselves in the uncomfortable position of having to defend biblical genocides as good because they are commanded by God, while condemning secular genocides.

Jonathan Pearce is a Hampshire-based philosopher who has written and edited many books that will be of interest to humanists, including ‘Free Will?’ and ‘The Little Book of Unholy Questions’, and ‘The Nativity: A Critical Examination’, and ‘Filling The Void: A Selection Of Humanist And Atheist Poetry’. He also writes the popular ‘A Tippling Philosopher’ blog for the Patheos blog network.

“Join us for an entertaining and enlightening evening examining the foundations of our morality”

Free entry (donations appreciated).     Everyone welcome!

(The Green House Hotel can also be accessed via its rear entrance in Gervis Road. The hotel has a small onsite car park, and roadside parking is also available in Gervis Road).

Please indicate your interest in attending this event on Meetup.com and/or facebook as it helps raise our group’s profile on these sites (Meetup also offers you timely email reminders and an easy way to discover other interesting groups in your area). To help you find them, here are the direct links to our event listings on these sites:

http://www.meetup.com/Dorset-Humanists/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/dorsethumanists/events/

You can also help us promote Dorset Humanists and this event by displaying an A4 poster. Download an A4 printable copy here, or email Dave at DHcensus(at)hotmail.co.uk for a PDF.

Click here to view details of other forthcoming and recent events on this website.

The God Confusion

Saturday 11^th June 2.00pm 
Moordown Community Centre, Coronation Avenue, Moordown Bournemouth BH9 1TW

With Philosopher Dr Gary Cox

What is God? Does he exist? Can we know?

How we answer these questions has enormous implications for our understanding of the universe, our purpose in life, and our morality, but throughout history our best philosophers have failed to reach agreement.

In this presentation, Gary Cox will be exploring various conceptions of God, and the arguments for and against their existence, in an entertaining yet objective manner, and he will demonstrate why he believes it is logically impossible for us to move beyond speculation to proof.

If we must reject the idea of inner religious certainty, can living as though a moral God exists still be a worthwhile enterprise? You may be surprised by Gary’s answer!

Gary Cox is a philosopher and the author of several books on general philosophy, Sartre, and existentialism including ‘The God Confusion: Why Nobody Knows the Answer to the Ultimate Question’, and ‘The Existentialist’s Guide to Death, the Universe and Nothingness’. He is an honorary research fellow of The University of Birmingham, UK.

“Join us for an entertaining examination of the God Confusion”

Free entry (donations appreciated).     Everyone welcome!

Please indicate your interest in attending this event on Meetup.com and/or facebook as it helps raise our group’s profile on these sites (Meetup also offers you timely email reminders and an easy way to discover other interesting groups in your area). To help you find them, here are the direct links to our event listings on these sites:

http://www.meetup.com/Dorset-Humanists/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/dorsethumanists/events/

You can also help us promote Dorset Humanists and this event by displaying an A4 poster. Download an A4 printable copy here, or email Dave at DHcensus(at)hotmail.co.uk for a PDF.

Click here to view details of other forthcoming and recent events on this website.

Ancient Stoicism and Modern Humanism

Saturday 14^th May 2.00pm 
Moordown Community Centre, Coronation Avenue, Moordown Bournemouth BH9 1TW

With Emeritus Professor of Ancient Thought Christopher Gill.

Is Stoicism compatible with a modern humanistic outlook, and can it help us live better, happier lives today?

In the popular imagination, a Stoic is someone who represses their emotions, but Stoic philosophy is much richer than this misconception suggests. Believing that material things alone are insufficient to guarantee happiness, the Stoics placed great value on wisdom, justice, moderation, courage, and living in harmony with our communities and the natural world around us.

Christopher Gill will outline the Stoics’ key ideas on virtue, happiness, and social development, and explain how Stoic practices can improve our life satisfaction, and help us flourish as human beings.

Christopher Gill is Emeritus Professor of Ancient Thought at the University of Exeter, and has played a leading role in ‘Stoicism Today’ which presents Stoicism to a modern audience as an aid to human flourishing. His publications related to Stoicism include a translation with introduction and commentary of Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations Books 1-6, and a complete modern translation with commentary of Epictetus’s Discourses entitled Epictetus: Discourses, Fragments, Handbook

“Join us for a stimulating exploration of Stoic principles and practices, and learn how they can help us live better, happier lives”

Free entry (donations appreciated).     Everyone welcome!

Please indicate your interest in attending this event on Meetup.com and/or facebook as it helps raise our group’s profile on these sites (Meetup also offers you timely email reminders and an easy way to discover other interesting groups in your area). To help you find them, here are the direct links to our event listings on these sites:

http://www.meetup.com/Dorset-Humanists/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/dorsethumanists/events/

You can also help us promote Dorset Humanists and this event by displaying an A4 poster. Download an A4 printable copy here, or email Dave at DHcensus(at)hotmail.co.uk for a PDF.

Click here to view details of other forthcoming and recent events on this website.

The Heart of Humanism: Thinking Clearly about Ethics & Human Flourishing

Wednesday 27^th April 7.30pm
The Green House Hotel,  4 Grove Road, Bournemouth BH1 3AX

With Estelle Goldie

What does it mean to live a good fulfilling life?

What makes something right or wrong, and how do we as humanists derive our morality without religious dogma to guide us?

Accepting that this life is the only life we know we have, and that we need to determine our own purpose and meaning throughout our lives, offers us both enhanced freedom and a responsibility to use our limited existence wisely. Drawing inspiration from a rich tradition of secular thinking, Estelle Goldie will help us to think through important ethical questions, and discover how our shared human values can enable us to flourish within our communities while celebrating the things that make life beautiful and satisfying. Estelle has taught philosophy for many years.

“Join us for a fascinating journey to the heart of humanism”

Free entry (donations appreciated).     Everyone welcome!

(The Green House Hotel can also be accessed via its rear entrance in Gervis Road. The hotel has a small onsite car park, and roadside parking is also available in Gervis Road).

Please indicate your interest in attending this event on Meetup.com and/or facebook as it helps raise our group’s profile on these sites (Meetup also offers you timely email reminders and an easy way to discover other interesting groups in your area). To help you find them, here are the direct links to our event listings on these sites:

http://www.meetup.com/Dorset-Humanists/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/dorsethumanists/events/

You can also help us promote Dorset Humanists and this event by displaying an A4 poster. Download an A4 printable copy here, or email Dave at DHcensus(at)hotmail.co.uk for a PDF.

Click here to view details of other forthcoming and recent events on this website.

Is ‘Goodness without God’ Good Enough?

Wednesday 25^th November 7.30pm
The Green House Hotel,  4 Grove Road, Bournemouth BH1 3AX

A debate with Moorlands College of Christian Theology

One of the core claims of Humanism is that we can be ‘good without God’, basing our morality on empathy, compassion, reason and science, rather than deriving it from ancient ‘sacred’ texts. While most Christians agree that humanists are capable of being good without God, many claim we are living off the moral capital of Christianity and that without a religious foundation questions of right and wrong ultimately collapse into relativism and subjectivity. A frequent accusation levelled against atheists is that ‘without God all things are permitted’, so is a firm foundation for ethics without God simply a hopeless quest?

Join us for this exciting debate between Dorset Humanists and Moorlands College as we consider the question: ‘Is God Required for Morality?’ Chair of Dorset Humanists David Warden and Dorset Humanists’ committee member Dean Robertson will be representing Dorset Humanists, and we welcome Luke Barrs and Yaz Bennett who will represent Moorlands College. We expect this to be a stimulating debate that will be of great interest to people of all faiths and none.

“Join us for an enjoyable and informative evening as we debate whether God is required to ground our morality”

Free entry (donations appreciated).     Everyone welcome!

Moorlands College of Christian Theology is an Evangelical Christian Training College with campuses in Christchurch, Torquay and Birmingham.

Jonathan M.S. Pearce is a teacher from South Hampshire, UK, who has dedicated many years to studying all manner of things philosophical and theological. With a Masters in Philosophy from the University of Wales, Trinity St David, he also holds a degree from the University of Leeds, and a PGCE from Southampton. His published books include ‘Free Will?’ and ‘The Little Book of Unholy Questions’, ‘Twins: A Survival Guide for Dads’ and ‘The Nativity: A Critical Examination’.

(The Green House Hotel can also be accessed via its rear entrance in Gervis Road. The hotel has a small onsite car park, and roadside parking is also available in Gervis Road).

Please indicate your interest in attending this event on Meetup.com and/or facebook as it helps raise our group’s profile on these sites (Meetup also offers you timely email reminders and an easy way to discover other interesting groups in your area). To help you find them, here are the direct links to our event listings on these sites:

http://www.meetup.com/Dorset-Humanists/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/dorsethumanists/events/

You can also help us promote Dorset Humanists and this event by displaying an A4 poster. Download an A4 printable copy here, or email Dave at DHcensus(at)hotmail.co.uk for a PDF.

Click here to view details of other forthcoming and recent events on this website.

Making Good Medical Choices – Do We Need God?

Wednesday 27^th May 7.30pm
The Green House Hotel,  4 Grove Road, Bournemouth BH1 3AX

With Professor Roger Higgs

When it comes to those difficult decisions with doctors, about assisted dying, abortion, or what to tell and who decides, does religion have a part to play? Should clinicians give serious consideration to requests for "inappropriate" treatment when those requests are based on religious beliefs? Medical ethics as a respected discipline is 40 years old now, and in this presentation, Roger will be looking at practice and policy, and the aches and the arguments when patients and their doctors get stuck.

Roger Higgs was Head of the Department of General Practice studies at Kings College London as well as a practicing GP. He has held a lifelong interest in the moral issues of practising medicine and is an eloquent and thought-provoking speaker. He is a leading member of the Institute of Medical Ethics and a founder of the Journal of Medical Ethics.

“Join us for an enlightening and engaging presentation on the difficult ethical decisions faced by medical practitioners”

Free entry (donations appreciated).     Everyone welcome!

(The Green House Hotel can also be accessed via its rear entrance in Gervis Road. The hotel has a small onsite car park, and roadside parking is also available in Gervis Road).

Please indicate your interest in attending this event on Meetup.com and/or facebook as it helps raise our group’s profile on these sites (Meetup also offers you timely email reminders and an easy way to discover other interesting groups in your area). To help you find them, here are the direct links to our event listings on these sites:

http://www.meetup.com/Dorset-Humanists/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/dorsethumanists/events/

You can also help us promote Dorset Humanists and this event by displaying an A4 poster. Download an A4 printable copy here, or email Dave at DHcensus(at)hotmail.co.uk for a PDF.

Click here to view details of other forthcoming and recent events on this website.