Towards Better Disagreement

Paul Hedges is Associate Professor of Interreligious Studies at RSIS, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and has previously held positions at universities in Britain, Canada, and China. He is the author and editor of several books around his research interests in the meeting and debate between worldviews. Find out more about Dr Hedges at his website www.logosdao.wordpress.com.

This is a terrific little book! I don't know how you managed to cover so many key issues so clearly and in such a short space. You have done a remarkably good job: the writing is clear and accessible; to my mind your tone is perfect because you emphasize that you want to engage with people, but that, like them, you do have opinions; this is one of the few times I really liked boxes because they provided short, pertinent examples instead of interrupting the text. I would use this text, in fact I would like to use this text for a class I am giving in the spring, so I wish it were already published! I very much liked your introductory discussion about faith vs. reason. That is such an important issue, and you covered it beautifully with excellent examples and thought experiments... This was a most enjoyable read.

• 1. Setting the Debate in Context. 2. Books and Beliefs: Choosing and Interpreting Texts. 3. Authority Figures: Jesus and the Others. 4. God, Gods and Reality. 5. Religions: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. 6. Women, Bodies and Gender. 7. Human Animals, Non-human Animals, and the Universe Around Us. 8. Living in a Religiously Diverse, Post-Christian and Post-Secular World. Further Reading. Index.