De la cruauté religieuse

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Holbach, Paul Henri Thiry, baron d', 1723-1789

Language:

French

Physical Description:

1 online resource : multiple file formats

Place of Publication:

Salt Lake City, UT : Project Gutenberg,

Summary:

"De la cruauté religieuse" by Paul Henri Thiry Holbach is a philosophical treatise written in the early 19th century. The work examines the nature of religious cruelty, exploring how human ideas and behaviors are often reflected in the deities people worship. Holbach argues that the cruelties attributed to gods and the violent practices in religious traditions stem from human cruelty itself, which is projected onto divine figures. The opening of the treatise sets the stage for the author's exploration of religious cruelty through a systematic examination. Holbach begins by analyzing the qualities attributed to deities, suggesting that humans often ascribe their own negative traits-such as tyranny and vindictiveness-onto the gods they worship. He critiques how these misconceptions lead to self-inflicted suffering among adherents, including ascetic practices and harmful rituals, and he highlights the tragic consequences of sacrificing animals and even humans as part of misguided religious devotion. This critical perspective challenges readers to reassess their understanding of divinity, morality, and the resulting human behaviors shaped by religion. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Credits:

Produced by Laurent Vogel and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from scanned images of public domain material from the Google Print project.)

Notes:

Reading ease score: 53.9 (10th to 12th grade). Somewhat difficult to read.

Release date is 2012-11-10