Kurtz (philosophy emeritus, State U. of New York, Buffalo), one of America's leading secular humanists, asserts it is possible to live a good life and be morally responsible without religion, and argues that humanity is limited by traditional religious values. In this edition, with a new introduction added to the original 1988 text, Kurtz defends the ethics of secularism and humanism, and states that in order to progress to a maximum level of creative development humans must fully partake of the forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden, which is the knowledge of good and evil. Stating that this knowledge is the guiding principles in autonomous reason, he defends the idea that the awareness of the centrality of moral decency is common to all people. He describes the roles and ethics of excellence, human rights and responsibilities, the role of education in character and cognition, the purpose of privacy, and the real fruit of the tree of life. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)