Philosophy
4 works
18th Century
The Age of Reason
A systematic critique of revealed religion that cost Paine his reputation and nearly his life — written while he awaited execution in a French prison.
18th Century
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
The most readable and rigorous statement of empiricist philosophy — including Hume's devastating argument against the rational basis for belief in miracles.
19th Century
On Liberty
The most rigorous philosophical defense of free expression ever written — grounding it not in rights but in epistemic necessity.
20th Century
Why I Am Not a Christian
A lecture delivered at the National Secular Society in 1927 — still the clearest short statement of secular humanism ever written.