The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values

Sam Harris has discovered that most people, from secular scientists to religious fundamentalists, agree on one point: science has nothing to say on the subject of human values. Indeed, science's failure to address questions of meaning and morality has become the primary justification for religious faith. The underlying claim is that while science is the best authority on the workings of the physical universe, religion is the best authority on meaning, values, morality, and leading a good life. Harris shows that this is not only untrue; it cannot possibly be true. Bringing a secular perspective to questions of right and wrong, Harris shows that there are right and wrong answers to the most pressing questions of human life. Because such answers exist, moral relativism is false. Using his expertise in philosophy and neuroscience, Harris delivers an argument about the future of science and the basis of human relationships.