freethought

From atheism to secular humanism, the terms we use to describe non-belief carry centuries of argument, persecution, and hard-won clarity. Understanding the vocabulary is the first step to understanding the movement.

By Jon Ajinga 5 min read 960 words

Claire Havemann's three-part documentary on the nineteenth-century freethought movement is unusually serious about its subjects — and willing to let them contradict each other.

By Jon Ajinga 3 min read 532 words

The collection that made Russell the most famous atheist of the 20th century — essays combining rigorous argument with elegant wit.

3 min read 414 words

Hitchens' anthology of freethought writing from Lucretius to Salman Rushdie — the best single-volume tour of the tradition.

2 min read 373 words

The most widely read freethought text of the 18th century, written in a French prison and smuggled out — Paine's systematic, accessible critique of revealed religion.

3 min read 423 words