Council for Secular Humanism

By the turn of the sixteenth century, the Italian Renaissance had produced writers such as Danté, Petrarch, Boccaccio and Castiglione, each with ideas rooted in the revival of Greek and Roman Classics, localization of the Christian traditions, idealistic opinions of women and individualism. From these authors spread the growth of the humanistic movement which encompassed the entirety of the Italian rebirth of arts and literature. One among many skeptics, including Lorenzo Valla, who had challenged

Wells would go further by appropriating and redefining the term "new world order" as a synonym for the establishment of a scientifically-managed world state and socialist economy.[12] During the Red Scare of 1947–1957, conspiracy theorists of the American secular and Christian right increasingly embraced and mongered unfounded fears of Freemasons, Illuminati, and Jews being the driving force behind an "international communist conspiracy". The threat ofworld communism in the form of a state atheistic and bureaucratic

Gene Therapy: the Danger of Enhancement I. Introduction Gene therapy has the potential to revolutionize modern medicine. The techniques of gene therapy are still in their infancy as medical treatments and there are still many problems which must be solved before gene therapy will live up to its potential. However, it is very likely that gene therapy will become a reality at some point in the future and when that time comes, the ethical questions surrounding gene therapy will be pushed to

Abortion refers to the termination of a pregnancy in one of two ways. One, the abortion pill (medically induced abortion) or two, surgical abortion depending on how far along the woman is. In 1973, a famous court case, Roe v. Wade legalized abortion across the nation and nullified the Texas state prohibition. The only time the state could intervene was after the first trimester, but during this time the woman had the right to privacy of her own body. After this staggering case, this controversial

Branches of philosophy The following branches are the main areas of study: • Metaphysics investigates the nature of being and the world. Traditional branches are cosmology and ontology. • Epistemology is concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge, and whether knowledge is possible. Among its central concerns has been the challenge posed by skepticism and the relationships between truth, belief, and justification. • Ethics, or 'moral philosophy', is concerned with questions of how

* Change Analysis Chart Postclassical (600-1450 C.E.) | Basic Features at Beginning of period | Key Continuities | Key Changes | Basic Features at End of Period | Reasons for Change or Continuities | Global Trade What other trading systems existed at the beginning of the period? The Indian Ocean system is a continuity, not a change.What about the gold-salt trade? Don't you mean the Pax Mongolica? | * Trade was very international. * Silk roads linked Eurasia, and goods traded hands many

E SSAYS ON TWENTIETH-C ENTURY H ISTORY In the series Critical Perspectives on the Past, edited by Susan Porter Benson, Stephen Brier, and Roy Rosenzweig Also in this series: Paula Hamilton and Linda Shopes, eds., Oral History and Public Memories Tiffany Ruby Patterson, Zora Neale Hurston and a History of Southern Life Lisa M. Fine, The Story of Reo Joe: Work, Kin, and Community in Autotown, U.S.A. Van Gosse and Richard Moser, eds., The World the Sixties Made: Politics and Culture in