About us
Welcome to the Nottingham Humanist Book Club!
We read and meet to discuss thought-provoking books on topics related to the humanist outlook on life: philosophy, science, ecology, ethics, politics.
Everybody's welcome to participate, even if you're not a member of Humanists UK. Meet like-minded individuals who share an interest in critical thinking, rationalism, and humanism.
We'll explore thought-provoking ideas in a friendly and welcoming environment.
We hope to see you at our next meeting!
Upcoming events
1
"Buddha, Socrates, and Us" by Stephen Batchelor
Beeston Library, Foster Ave, Beeston, NG9 1AE, Nottingham, GBThis month book is "Buddha, Socrates, and Us" by Stephen Batchelor
We will meet in Room Bee 1 in Beeston Library to discuss the book. Please come along even if you haven't read it: it's an occasion to discuss humanist issues and meet other people interested in humanism.
You don't need to have read the book to come to the meeting, you just need to have an interest in the topic and in humanist values.
Please support Nottingham Humanists by registering and giving a donation on the sign up page.
Description:
A renowned Buddhist teacher turns to two of the most influential figures in history for guidance on how to face the ethical challenges of our time.“[Batchelor] draws on a different tradition of doubt—Socratic questioning—and explores the wisdom that Buddhist and Hellenistic philosophy might offer us today.”—Ezra Klein, The Ezra Klein Show
The Buddha’s revolutionary teachings transformed Asia, and his contemporary Socrates laid the foundations of Western philosophy. Although they never met, Socrates and the Buddha each addressed in a radically new and surprisingly similar way the core questions of how to lead a good, just, and dignified life amid turbulence and violence. Common to their teachings was an ethics of uncertainty: both refused to make truth claims about the ultimate nature of reality, insisting on the primacy of critical self‑evaluation as the basis of an ethical life.
In this illuminating book, best-selling author Stephen Batchelor explores the philosophical, social, and political worlds of the Buddha and Socrates, showing how their teachings continue to provide lessons in how to lead a flourishing and engaged life. Keenly aware of the fickle and conflicted nature of the human mind, Gotama and Socrates inspired their followers to act with humility and courage, risk and resolve, doubt and confidence. Drawing on their insights, and those of their followers, Batchelor uncovers a middle way between Buddhist dharma and Greek philosophy that can serve as a starting point for a “secular faith” that addresses the most pressing spiritual and planetary issues of our age.3 attendees
Past events
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