I was too busy to blog today, so I decided I would re-run an old essay that was the precursor to the very Weekly Link Roundup series. Many of these essays still inspire me and ground my views the same now as they did back in May 2011, but some others, especially those in the morality section, have been obsoleted by my latest views. This is the first time I’ve done a rerun, so give me some feedback on whether it is fun / useful.

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