A Short History of Freethought, Ancient and Modern, Vol. 2 of 2 (Classic Reprint)

Freethinkers and secularists may believe that theirs is a relatively modern philosophy. But as A Short History of Freethought, Ancient and Modern, Vol. 2 of 2 explains, freethought has a long and dignified history and has survived many previous attempts by government and churches to stifle reason and logic. Volume 1 traces the philosophies that were prevalent in the ancient world and Volume 2 describes freethought during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.

J. M. Robertson was a Liberal member of Parliament, journalist and advocate of rationalism and secularism. He authored several books, including one on the historicity of Jesus. According to Robertson even some of history's most celebrated thinkers, like John Stuart Mill, had a tendency to timidly "speak out without really speaking out" about their secularist beliefs. This problem is still ever present in our own time. Volume 2 opens with the rise of modern freethought in Italy and throughout Europe, partly as a reaction to the Reformation. Robertson does a good job of explaining the political, religious and social forces that affected the freethought movement. Although the Church fought freethinkers, scientists like Copernicus and Galileo gave new life to secular ideas.

The chapters on British Freethought in the 17th and 18th Century are rigorous and cover every major figure of the time and many minor ones that are less familiar to readers. This is particularly true in the chapters tracing secularism in the rest of Europe, as conditions in Poland, Portugal and Switzerland are included in the Volume. The discussion of early freethought in the United States is a helpful summary of scholars and statesmen who framed the Constitution, most of whom espoused deism, actively rejecting divinely-inspired texts. Their disavowal of established religious practices was just as revolutionary as their political declaration of independence from the United Kingdom. The book ends with the waves of freethinkers in the 19th Century, again reviewing the situation in most of the major countries around the world.

A Short History of Freethought, Ancient and Modern, Vol. 2 of 2 is still the most comprehensive book on the intellectual history of freethought and skepticism. Secularist readers will recognize that the arguments levied against these skeptics are the same ones brought to bear in our current century. This book is a must-read for secular humanists, atheists and skeptics.

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