Books on moral values, human nature, & criticism of organized religion ?

[Child_20]

I need to expand my comprehension & knowledge on those 3 topics, books can be fiction or nonfiction. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks.

[mayneverhave]

For a critique of organized religion, nothing in fiction comes close to Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov - specifically the Grand Inquisitor chapter.

[JBI]

Le neveu de Rameau by Diderot.

[Bitterfly]

Thomas Hardy criticized organised religion (in Tess and Jude, at least).
Michel Onfray (contemporary French philosopher, refreshingly easy to read but not silly): In Defence of Atheism: The Case Against Christianity, Judaism and Islam .
And you've got Nietzsche, obviously. :D

[andave_ya]

Dostoevsky.

[The Comedian]

If you're looking for an alternative criticism of religion, try Mere Christianity by CS Lewis. He ultimately argues that Christianity is "true" but in the process he does a wonderful critique of faith.

[kelby_lake]

Brideshead Revisited mocks Catholicism

[Whifflingpin]

Giles Goat-Boy by John Barth covers all those themes.

[TeH]

Hmm. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess studies human nature - free will. Is it better to choose to do bad or forced to be good?

[bazarov]

Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky.

[curlyqlink]

Barchester Towers, by Anthony Trollope. It is an affectionate satire of the goings-on within the Church of England, in which spirituality takes a distant fifth place to anxiety over preferment, loss of funding, social standing, and petty jealousies. It's absolutely hilarious. Like any good satire, it knows intimately whereof it speaks.

[stlukesguild]

William James- The Varieties of Religious Experience
Emerson- Essays
Montaigne- Essays

[eric1172]

Candid by Voltaire.

[librarius_qui]

I need to expand my comprehension & knowledge on those 3 topics, books can be fiction or nonfiction. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks.

moral values
Classic Romans spoke a lot on this ... Try M. Tullius Cicero, for a (good) beginning.

human nature
To study David (the king) as a character might be interesting ... He's said to be a man according to the ideal of his god, and, at the same time, he commits some atrocities ... This is very human to me! Try the book of Nathan (people call it "II Samuel", it's in the bible).

criticism of organized religion
Martin Luther (the old) wrote some interesting (and synthetic) things about it. Also the Greeks (Socrates, written by Plato), when he criticizes the "Greek city", he's, in his way, making criticism of religion, because for them, politics & religion was more interconnected than for us. So, maybe something by Plato. (You'll have to take a look where to begin from; to this, I'll recommend you the Britannica, "Plato", as a trustworthy guide.)


That's all I can think about, for a brief moment.


Cheers!
Good luck!


librarius
:crash:

[Whifflingpin]

"Candide by Voltaire."
Good choice.

"The Scarlet Letter" - Nat. Hawthorne. I've just read it and I don't think you should wait as long as I did. It certainly contrasts moral values with the behaviour derived from established religion, and says things about human nature too.

[Mr.K]

The Trial by Kafka
The Sharks by Jens Bjorneboe
Narcissus and Goldmund by Herman Hesse