Author: Timothy J. Madigan
Timothy J. Madigan is the chair of FREE INQUIRY’s Editorial Board.
The Confessions of Second Timothy
Throughout 2010, Free Inquiry is publishing special features to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the founding of the Council for Secular Humanism. In the pages that follow, Timothy J. Madigan and David Koepsell, two figures who were instrumental in the growth and development of the Council, reminisce. —The Editors Growing up in Buffalo, New York, …
Introduction – Sexual Freedom
The humanist stance on choice and pleasure One of my most memorable experiences as an editor of FREE INQUIRY was strolling along the canals of Amsterdam with senior editors Vern and Bonnie Bullough during the 1992 World Humanist Congress. The two of them walked hand-in-hand throughout the famed Red Light District, reminiscing about the various …
Frontlines — Vol. 17 No. 3
Hale-Bopp and Heaven’s Gate In early 1996, the astronomer Alan Hale submitted an article to FREE INQUIRY dealing with the comet he had recently co-discovered with Thomas Bopp. Although there was no way to be sure at that time if the comet would be as spectacular as it proved to be, Hale felt that there …
The Virtues of ‘The Ethics of Belief’: W. K. Clifford’s Continuing Relevance
The following article was delivered as a paper at a conference sponsored by The Centre for Inquiry at Westminster College, Oxford, on July 27, 1996. It is wrong always, everywhere, and for any one, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.” So wrote William Kingdon Clifford (1845-1879) in his famous essay “The Ethics of Belief,” delivered …
This article is available for free to all.Humanists Meet in Poland and Russia
Last fall I had the pleasure of attending two conferences dealing with the need for humanism in Eastern Europe. The first, entitled “Humanist Visions of European Integration,” was held September 26 to 29, 1996, in Warsaw, Poland, and was hosted by the Federation of Polish Humanist Associations. Barbara Stanosz, editor of the journal Bez Dogmatu …