Secularism, Liberalism, and the Human Future

Russell Blackford

University of Newcastle, NSW

Mehlman and Botkin

“We are raftsmen approaching a social and evolutionary maelstrom. Whether we will emerge safely will depend on how well prepared we are, not to mention a great deal of luck.”

Some of the books that I refer to...

A Letter Concerning Toleration (John Locke, orig. pub 1689)

On Liberty (John Stuart Mill, orig. pub. 1859)

Bioethics in a Liberal Society (Max Charlesworth, 1993)

Freedom’s Power (Paul Starr, 2007)

The harm principle (John Stuart Mill)

The idea that society should be reluctant

to restrict the liberty of individuals to act

as they wish with the resources available

to them.

The harm principle (John Stuart Mill)

Even the idea of harm is restricted to

direct, significant, and wrongful harm to

others. In particular, the harm described

must be to secular interests, not to

spiritual ones (e.g. interests in personal

salvation, holiness, purity from sin, or

conformity to the will of a deity).

Thank you!