Beyond Cosmic Dice: Book Talk by Jeff Schweitzer June 19, 2009

Where does morality come from? For religious people the answer is "God" and they often claim that without religion there is no reason to be moral. In their new book, "Beyond Cosmic Dice: Moral Life in a Random World", Jeff Schweitzer and Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Scaria provide a humanist answer. Morality is our biological destiny. They show that a natural ethic enables us to move beyond the random hand of birth to pave our own road to a better life. Whereas religion claims that happiness is found from submission to a higher power, a natural ethic defines happiness as the freedom to discover within ourselves our inherent good, and then to act on that better instinct, not because of any mandate from above or in obedience to the Bible, but because we can. With the ability to choose to be good comes the obligation to make that choice; choosing to be moral is what makes us special as individuals and as a species. With a natural ethic we free ourselves from the arbitrary and destructive constraints of divine interference to create a path toward a full life for which we ourselves are responsible.

Dr. Jeff Schweitzer is an internationally recognized authority in bridging science, conservation, development and ethics. He has been a guest speaker at dozens of international conferences in Asia, Russia, Europe and across the United States. He has done research on neurophysiology of sharks, memory, and the contributed to the evidence that our brains renew themselves throughout life. In 1992 he was appointed to the position of Assistant Director for International Affairs in the Office of Science and Technology Policy. Since his retirement from that position Dr Schweitzer has devoted himself to articulating and promoting an ethical foundation for efforts to bring together science, morality, conservation and economic development.

Doors open at 6PM. Talk begins at 6:30PM. As usual join us for dinner at a local restaurant after the talk.

$10 for general public. Free for Friends of Center.

Official Website: http://www.centerforinquiry.net/sf/events/beyond_cosmic_dice_with_dr._jeff_schweitzer/