CONTENTS
[ CHAPTER I. ] OPEN THOUGHT THE FIRST STEP TO INTELLIGENCE
[ CHAPTER II. ] THE QUESTION STATED
[ CHAPTER III. ] THE FIRST STAGE OF FREE THOUGHT: ITS NATURE AND LIMITATION
[ CHAPTER IV. ] THE SECOND STAGE OF FREE THOUGHT: ENTERPRISE
[ CHAPTER V. ] CONQUESTS OF INVESTIGATION
[ CHAPTER VI. ] STATIONARINESS OF CRITICISM
[ CHAPTER VII. ] THIRD STAGE OF FREE THOUGHT—SECULARISM
[ CHAPTER VIII. ] THREE PRINCIPLES VINDICATED
[ CHAPTER IX. ] HOW SECULARISM AROSE
[ CHAPTER X. ] HOW SECULARISM WAS DIFFUSED
[ CHAPTER XI. ] SECULAR INSTRUCTION DISTINCT FROM SECULARISM
[ CHAPTER XII. ] THE DISTINCTIVENESS MADE FURTHER EVIDENT
[ CHAPTER XIII. ] SELF-DEFENSIVE FOR THE PEOPLE
[ CHAPTER XIV. ] REJECTED TENETS REPLACED BY BETTER
[ CHAPTER XV. ] MORALITY INDEPENDENT OF THEOLOGY
[ CHAPTER XVI. ] ETHICAL CERTITUDE
[ CHAPTER XVII. ] THE ETHICAL METHOD OF CONTROVERSY
[ CHAPTER XVIII. ] ITS DISCRIMINATION
[ CHAPTER XIX. ] APART FROM CHRISTIANISM
[ CHAPTER XX. ] SECULARISM CREATES A NEW RESPONSIBILITY
[ CHAPTER XXI. ] THROUGH OPPOSITION TO RECOGNITION
[ CHAPTER XXII. ] SELF-EXTENDING PRINCIPLES
PUBLISHER'S PREFACE.
AMONG the representative freethinkers of the world Mr. George J. Holyoake takes a most prominent position. He is a leader of leaders, he is the brain of the Secularist party in England, he is a hero and a martyr of their cause.
Judged as a man, Mr. Holyoake is of sterling character; he was not afraid of prison, nor of unpopularity and ostracism, nor of persecution of any kind. If he ever feared anything, it was being not true to himself and committing himself to something that was not right. He was an agitator all his life, and as an agitator he was—whether or not we agree with his views—an ideal man. He is the originator of the Secularist movement that was started in England; he invented the name Secularism, and he was the backbone of the Secularist propaganda ever since it began. Mr. Holyoake left his mark in the history of thought, and the influence which he exercised will for good or evil remain an indelible heirloom of the future.
Secularism is not the cause which The Open Court Publishing Co. upholds, but it is a movement which on account of its importance ought not to be overlooked. Whatever our religious views may be, we must reckon with the conditions that exist, and Secularism is powerful enough to deserve general attention.
What is Secularism?