James Thrower

*Provides material that will drill mechanical and civil engineers in problem-solving techniques *Covers the core areas: Statics, Dynamics, and Strength of Materials *Includes hundreds of worked-out problems and practice problems

Much has been written on religions of all types, the history of religious belief, and on the supernatural interpretation of the world, but where can we turn for an account of unbelief-the naturalistic alternative? James Thrower's concise and direct approach examines the thinkers and schools which defined atheism, beginning with Greece, Rome, and Israel. He notes that the intellectual status of unbelief rose significantly in Western Europe as a result of the clash in the Middle Ages between the powerful force of faith and the emerging but still limited influence of reason. Physical science was developing and the world of the intellect would expand during the Renaissance that followed. This delightfully pertinent short history illustrates the leading issues separating the theist from the atheist and agnostic, and sheds light on world events and the inconsistencies inherent in supernaturalism and theistic theories. Thrower discusses atheism both as a reaction to belief and as a separate and consistent form of belief in a world stripped of the divine, where reason, science, and humankind's endless search for knowledge flourish.

Reviews theories which have been put forward to account for the origin and nature of religion, and covers both empirical (sociological, anthropological and psychological) theories and religious theories (revelation, religious experience, mysticism, etc.). The text asks "Why theories of religion?".

This comprehensive introduction to theories of religion is the first single-volume exploration of ideas put forward by both believers and non-believers. James Thrower analyzes the different types of explanations of religion, not just the thoughts of individuals, advanced primarily - but not exclusively - from within the Western tradition. He begins by looking at religious explanations of religion, which define religion as revelation, experience or philosophy (Plato, Kant, and Hegel). He then examines the naturalist, or non-religious, explanations, from the disciplines of anthropology, psychology, and sociology, including the "masters of suspicion" (including Feurbach, Nietzsche, Marx, Tylor, Frazer, and Freud). The scope of this book ranges from the classical, Semitic, and Indian religious traditions through contemporary thinkers. Thrower concludes by considering the future of the religions of the world in light of the increasingly close inter-religious encounters that are becoming a feature of the global village of the twenty-first century.

Since its founding by Jacques Waardenburg in 1971, Religion and Reason has been a leading forum for contributions on theories, theoretical issues and agendas related to the phenomenon and the study of religion. Topics include (among others) category formation, comparison, ethnophilosophy, hermeneutics, methodology, myth, phenomenology, philosophy of science, scientific atheism, structuralism, and theories of religion. From time to time the series publishes volumes that map the state of the art and the history of the discipline.

The series Religion and Society (RS) contributes to the exploration of religions as social systems– both in Western and non-Western societies; in particular, it examines religions in their differentiation from, and intersection with, other cultural systems, such as art, economy, law and politics. Due attention is given to paradigmatic case or comparative studies that exhibit a clear theoretical orientation with the empirical and historical data of religion and such aspects of religion as ritual, the religious imagination, constructions of tradition, iconography, or media. In addition, the formation of religious communities, their construction of identity, and their relation to society and the wider public are key issues of this series.