It’s not often enough that I celebrate the work others — especially the others who’s written ideas have really inspired me to keep writing for myself; the others who’s works are what I attempt to summarize and build off of. So that’s why today I have decided to write a list of all sorts of writings that have gotten me to think the way I think today; the writings of the giants — the giants who have shoulders that I do not yet stand upon, but meekly and humbly climb toward.

A lot of the work here is reflected greatly in the work I write on my blog — this should show my respect and inspiration I derive from these authors. I probably wouldn’t have written anything in this blog if it hadn’t been for me reading these online essays. So here they are, in convenient categories. I took some creative license in subtitling them, so that you know what you will be reading, but left the original titles intact. Also keep in mind that while I enjoy these writings, I do not agree 100% with every word written in them. Lastly, each category is designed to be read in order (from top to bottom).

Why I Don’t Believe in a God

• Why I Am Not a Christian by Richard Carrier
• Religion’s Claim to be Nondisprovable by Eliezer Yudkowsky
• All Possible Worlds: The Problem of Evil by Adam Lee
• A Ghost in the Machine: The Soul Doesn’t Exist by Adam Lee
• One More Burning Bush: The Overly Hidden God by Adam Lee
• The Argument from Locality by Adam Lee
• Nothing Fails Like Prayer by Adam Lee
• The Cosmic Shell Game: The Religious Confusion by Adam Lee
• The Almighty Screwup: How the Biblical God Got Nothing Right by Adam Lee
• Divine Blackmail: Christianity Denies Free Will by Adam Lee
• Infinite Punishment: Why Hell is Deeply Immoral by Adam Lee
• Pay No Attention to the Deity Behind the Curtain by Adam Lee
• A Fish Did Not Write This Essay by Richard Carrier
• The Unmoved Mover: Rebuttals to Arguments for God by Adam Lee
• The Apologist’s Handbook: Contradictions in Arguments for God by Adam Lee
• God Is Love: How God is Not Just a Metaphor by Adam Lee

On Feeling Good About Being Atheist

• What is Atheism?: Basic Responses by Richard Carrier
• The Necessity of Atheism by Adam Lee
• Into Clear Air: What to Expect from a Deconversion by Adam Lee
• Unapologetic: Don’t Be Afraid of Being Atheist by Adam Lee
• Terror of the Truth: Atheists Aren’t Afraid of Being Wrong by Adam Lee
• The Theist’s Guide to Converting Atheists by Adam Lee
• What An Atheist Ought to Stand For by Richard Carrier
• In Awe of Everything: Atheistic Curiosity by Adam Lee
• Who Needs God?: Atheism is Not Arrogant by Adam Lee
• Life of Wonder: Atheism is Not Nihilism by Adam Lee

On Being Rational

• The Twelve Virtues of Rationality by Eliezer Yudkowsky
• Cognitive Biases: How We Mess Up What We Think by Eliezer Yudkowsky
• Why Truth?: Why We Need Rationality by Eliezer Yudkowsky
• Lost Purposes: What Rationality Looks Like by Eliezer Yudkowsky
• But There’s Still a Chance, Right?: How to Think Better by Eliezer Yudkowsky
• Mysterious Answers to Mysterious Questions by Eliezer Yudkowsky
• How to Prove a Negative by Richard Carrier
• The Dragon in My Garage by Carl Sagan
• Belief in Belief by Eliezer Yudkowsky
• Make Beliefs Pay Rent: How Belief Works by Eliezer Yudkowsky
• The Proper Use of Doubt by Eliezer Yudkowsky
• Crisis of Faith: How to Use Rationality by Eliezer Yudkowsky
• Disguised Queries: Understanding Definitions by Eliezer Yudkowsky
• Replace the Symbol with the Substance: How to Think Differently by Eliezer Yudkowsky

The Foundations of My Moral Theory

• The Fallacy of Gray: Why We Can Judge by Eliezer Yudkowsky
• What is Metaethics? by Luke Muehlhauser
• Choosing a Moral Theory by Alonzo Fyfe
• Moral Ontology: Where Moral Value Comes From by Richard Carrier
• Darla the She Goat: Reasons to be Moral by Richard Carrier
• Does Christian Theism Provide a Better Reason to be Moral than Secular Humanism? by Richard Carrier
• Rosenberg on Naturalism: Refuting the Idea That Naturalism Can’t Account for Moral Value by Richard Carrier
• The Carrot and the Stick: A Foundation of Morality by Adam Lee
• A Response to Critics: Defending the Moral Landscape by Sam Harris
• Desire Utilitarianism: An Atheist’s Quest for Moral Truth by Alonzo Fyfe
• Questions About “What is Morality?”: An Index of Posts Explaining Desirism by Alonzo Fyfe, collected by Luke Meuhlhauser