Hard Atheism and the Ethics of Desire

This book challenges the widespread assumption that the ethical life and society must be moral in any objective sense. In his previous works, Marks has rejected both the existence of such a morality and the need to maintain verbal, attitudinal, practical, and institutional remnants of belief in it. This book develops these ideas further, with emphasis on constructing a positive alternative. Calling it “desirism”, Marks illustrates what life and the world would be like if we lived in accordance with our rational desires rather than the dictates of any actual or pretend morality, neither overlaying our desires with moral sanction nor attempting to override them with moral strictures. Hard Atheism and the Ethics of Desire also argues that atheism thereby becomes more plausible than the so-called New Atheism that attempts to give up God and yet retain morality.

• morality
• normatiivity
• desirism
• objectivity
• subjectivity
• practical reasoning
• secularism

“Moral skepticism has been a presence in philosophy ever since the ancients, yet it tends to be an unpopular position with few professional advocates. Joel Marks’ book is a welcome exception. Written in an engaging and accessible tone, Hard Atheism and the Ethics of Desire does a marvellous job of defending an unusual and radical philosophical thesis.” (Richard Joyce, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, author of “The Myth of Morality”)

“Joel Marks has become known for his uncompromising rejection of morality. In this book he articulates an alternative ethics that serves the traditional function of a guide to life but without resort to objective values. The book is skillfully and clearly written, leaves no argument unanswered, and is full of helpful examples from real life.” (Richard Garner, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, The Ohio State University; author of “Beyond Morality”)​​

“In a universe that issues no objectively binding moral demands and prohibitions, how are we to live? Joel Marks tackles this largest of large philosophical questions with characteristic wit, clarity, nuance, and honesty. Most refreshing is his persistent, unflinching interrogation of his own motives and emotional reactions.” (Russell Blackford, University of Newcastle, Australia, and author of “The Mystery of Moral Authority”)

• University of New Haven, West Haven, USA

  Joel Marks

Joel Marks is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of New Haven and a Bioethics Center Scholar at Yale University, USA. Marks has edited two books on philosophical psychology and authored many articles and books on ethics, most recently Ethics without Morals.

Policies and ethics