Author(s): Mary Warnock

Philosophy

This is a powerful argument that religious and theological issues should have no place in public morality issues such as euthanasia, assisted suicide, and abortion. Here is a pugnacious book by a philosopher who often hits the headlines. The book reflects on the nature of religion and how it relates or ought to relate to the rest of life. Many people today are totally indifferent to religion but religion is far from dead. Indeed religions are intensely defended and aggressively pursued. Religion is a cause for dissension and death. This is beyond dispute. Mary Warnock is concerned with Christianity. She argues that to value religion as the essential foundation of morality is a profound and probably dangerous mistake. Warnock's overriding purpose is to prise apart religion and morality. Judges for example are constantly being asked to pass judgement on moral issues in court. Because of The Human Rights Act, the law perforce is involved. Morality is therefore increasingly a public and not just a private matter. This book attempts to clarify the foundation of morality in a society largely indifferent to and ignorant of religion. Religion nevertheless emerges as a source of deep and unique imaginative experience.