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This book sets out to shed light on what is specific to American Transcendentalism by comparing it with the atheistic vision of German philosophers and theologians like Ludwig Feuerbach and Arthur Schopenhauer. The study argues that atheism was part of the discursive and religious context from which Transcendentalism emerged. Tendencies toward atheism were already inherent in Transcendentalist thought. The atheist scenario came to the surface in the controversy about Emerson’s “new views.” Contemporary critics charged that the deity Emerson worshipped was himself. Emersonian Transcendentalism thus anticipated some of the central concerns in the works of German atheists like Feuerbach. From idealism to atheism seemed but a short step.

Religious studies --- 211 --- God. Opperwezen. Oneindige: deïsme; theïsme; atheïsme --- Transcendentalism (New England) --- Atheism --- Transcendentalism --- Transcendantalisme (Philosophie américaine) --- Athéisme --- Transcendantalisme --- History. --- Philosophy. --- Histoire --- Philosophie --- Philosophy --- Agnosticism --- Free thought --- Irreligion --- Religion --- Secularism --- Theism --- New England transcendentalism

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On October 19, 1876 a group of leading French citizens, both men and women included, joined together to form an unusual group, The Society of Mutual Autopsy, with the aim of proving that souls do not exist. The idea was that, after death, they would dissect one another and (hopefully) show a direct relationship between brain shapes and sizes and the character, abilities and intelligence of individuals. This strange scientific pact, and indeed what we have come to think of as anthropology, which the group's members helped to develop, had its genesis in aggressive, evangelical atheism.With this group as its focus, The End of the Soul is a study of science and atheism in France in late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It shows that anthropology grew in the context of an impassioned struggle between the forces of tradition, especially the Catholic faith, and those of a more freethinking modernism, and moreover that it became for many a secular religion. Among the adherents of this new faith discussed here are the novelist Emile Zola, the great statesman Leon Gambetta, the American birth control advocate Margaret Sanger, and Arthur Conan Doyle, whose Sherlock Holmes embodied the triumph of ratiocination over credulity.Boldly argued, full of colorful characters and often bizarre battles over science and faith, this book represents a major contribution to the history of science and European intellectual history.

Atheism --- Religion and science --- Anthropology --- Rationalism --- Religion --- Philosophy & Religion --- History --- History. --- France --- Religion. --- -Atheism --- -Religion and science --- -Christianity and science --- Geology --- Geology and religion --- Science --- Science and religion --- Philosophy --- Agnosticism --- Free thought --- Irreligion --- Secularism --- Theism --- Human beings --- Religious aspects --- Soul --- Athéisme --- Religion et sciences --- Anthropologie --- Ame --- Histoire --- Church history --- Histoire religieuse --- Christianity and science --- Primitive societies --- Social sciences