Massimo Pigliucci interviews Susan Jacoby about her new book The Great Agnostic Robert Ingersoll and American Freethought April 24, 2013

Massimo Pigliucci interviews Susan Jacoby about her new book The Great Agnostic Robert Ingersoll and American Freethought
6:30 Wine Reception

During the Gilded Age, which saw the dawn of America’s enduring culture wars, Robert Green Ingersoll was known as “the Great Agnostic.” The nation’s most famous orator, he raised his voice on behalf of Enlightenment reason, secularism, and the separation of church and state with a vigor unmatched since America’s revolutionary generation. In this provocative biography Susan Jacoby restores Ingersoll to his rightful place in an American intellectual tradition extending from Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine to the current generation of “new atheists.”

Susan Jacoby has written for more than 25 years, on topics including law, religion, medicine, aging, women's rights, political dissent in the Soviet Union, and Russian literature. She is also the author of the weekly column, "The Spirited Atheist," at the On Faith website published by The Washington Post.

Massimo Pigliucci is a professor of philosophy at the City University of New York. His research interests are the philosophy of science and the nature of pseudoscience. He publishes the Rationally Speaking blog and podcasts and is author most recently of Answers for Aristotle: How Science and Philosophy Can Lead Us to A More Meaningful Life.

Entry to our 100-year-old building and meeting rooms is available for most wheelchair users with prior arrangements. Please call ahead (212-874-5210 x 107) for setup of our portable system and plan to arrive one hour before start time.

Official Website: http://www.nysec.org