Vic and I are going for a cuppa with Richard Holloway one day

The book is quite different from what I was expecting. There are a lot of interesting points of view about the most debated issue in ethics, but there is very little about godless morality. No philosophical construction. Still, I found it interesting. Holloway shows a fine prose and the book is short enough to forgive some repetitions and excursions.

Thoughtful, engaging intelligent writing. All the more so because the author is a Bishop (ex-Bishop now). I was ready to be irritated and expecting to argue with the author, but the unsupportable viewpoint and comical statements never arrived from this impressive author. A must read for souls considering moral theory in a contemporary pluralist society. The early chapters discuss the broader
problems of humanity's limited understanding in the area of ethics and the development from a morality of command to a morality of consent. These chapters, insightful, memorable and eminently quotable, are where the books greatness lies. The book concludes with chapters regarding modern issues or dilemmas in a variety of specific cases.

A consider, thoughtful and above all intensely reasonable exploration of why we should not rely on religion as a source of morality, and how a secular alternative should be constructed. For a Humanist like myself, there was a bit too much focus on Christianity in places, but the chapters covering drugs, abortion and voluntary euthanasia were excellent. As with his book 'Looking in the Distance', this is an ideal work for anyone drifting away from religion towards un-belief, and even for the confirmed non-believer there is much to be learned from Holloway's approach.

Well written and engaging but wrong in its thesis.

Godless Morality is one of my all-time favorite theological/philosophical pieces. Holloway's differentiation between morals and ethics is classic. He is one of the most deeply empathetic religious leaders of our time.

A great philosophy book with a great insight to different philosophical views involving god and religious believes. I shan’t talk about it here as religion and philosophy in general can be a sensitive topic especially morality. But other philosophical books I read in the future may get more insight in my reviews.

Yet another case where a person with expertise in one field, thereby feels entitled to propound his ill-formed opinions on a wide range of matters.

This series of essays are based on the typical liberal fallacy - the assumption that everyone really wants everyone to be happy, and all conflict and cruelty arise out of misconceptions, which 'enlightened' thinking should be able to straighten out.

A brief look at the last century should demonstrate the foolhardiness of this assumption - there are always a small minority of ruthless individuals whose aim is to achieve the optimum situation for themselves, and are quite content to achieve this at the expense of everyone else. And the more this "everyone really wants to get along" argument is promulgated, the more successful the psychopaths are - because they are assumed not to exist.

Starting from a faulty premise drastically reduces the value of this book; but it is not terribly well-reasoned either. I spotted several factual inaccuracies, apparently arising from the former Bishop's assumption that America is the pattern on which the rest of the world is modelled.

This is not theology, and as philosophy it is shoddy work. It is another manifestation of our celebrity culture, which enables a man given authority in one field to abrogate it to give spurious validity to the airing of his personal prejudices in another.

*3.5 Picked up and put down a few times as wasn’t in the mood, not a reflection on the content.

Puts forward the idea of a fluid moral code that doesn’t limit itself to the constrains of scripture and organised religion. All the more interesting as written by a man of the cloth! Goes to the root of seemingly controversial / taboo ethical dilemmas and exposes hypocrisy or lack of reason, removing the nonsensically traditional from the moral.

Particularly enjoyed the chapter on genetic engineering and would be interested to read a more recent edition of this 1990’s book of short essays.