Corliss Lamont Bookshelf

My books are all written in simple, readable prose and deal with important issues in philosophy, politics, economics, international relations, and culture in general. They can be read by the average high school student. The problems analyzed and discussed by me are just as relevant in the 1990s [and beyond] as in the earlier decades when my books were first published.

For more than half a century Dr. Corliss Lamont was a leading and controversial figure in American intellectual and political life. He helped spark the debate over "secular humanism" (he preferred "naturalistic humanism") in his classic The Philosophy of Humanism. There he argued that “the chief aim of human life is to work for the happiness of all humanity” and that the world's abundant material, cultural and political assets should be available to everyone. Bertrand Russell wrote that, “Every friend of freedom ought to lay to heart what Corliss Lamont has to say.” For new readers, especially students, who are witnessing history being rapidly rewritten in ways that will fundamentally touch their lives, Russell's advice remains as timely and vital as ever. Aside from The Philosophy of Humanism, which was and continues to be his most popular and important work, eight other titles stand out from his extensive corpus. Presented here are descriptions of those titles, seven of which are currently available from online booksellers. On this page: The Illusion of Immortality Freedom Is as Freedom Does: Civil Liberties in America Freedom of Choice Affirmed Yes To Life - Memoirs of Corliss Lamont Remembering John Masefield Lover's Credo A Humanist Wedding Service A Humanist Funeral Service THE ILLUSION OF IMMORTALITY In clear and unflinching language, Lamont states the case for human mortality — the finality of death. But, he argues, the illusion of immortality is an affirmative vision, not a negative one. By recognizing human mortality, he writes, people will realize they must “develop their possibilities, win happiness for themselves and others, and take their stand . . . here and now.” Extraordinarily complete and well-informed . . . worthy of the serious attention of all thoughtful persons.    —John Dewey

Fifth Edition 1990 (Previous editions: 1965, 1959, 1956, 1935) Introduction by John Dewey Includes Prefaces, Notes Indexed 303 pages Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 65-25140 ISBN 0-8044-6377-8 Available for purchase at Amazon.com.

FREEDOM IS AS FREEDOM DOES: CIVIL LIBERTIES IN AMERICA Lamont surveys significant developments in the field of civil liberties over the past half century, including details of his own landmark court battles against censorship and invasion of privacy. As a former director of the American Civil Liberties Union from 1932 until 1954, Lamont was one of the nation's foremost defenders of the Bill of Rights. An important contribution . . . Few have fought for civil liberties as unflinchingly, or with such devotion to principle . . .    —Thomas I. Emerson, Yale Law School

Fourth Edition 1990 (Previous editions: 1981, 1972, 1956) Foreword by Bertrand Russell Introduction by H. H. Wilson Includes Author's Preface, Notes, Selected Bibliography Indexed 326 pages Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 56-7820 ISBN 0-8264-0475-8 Available for purchase at Amazon.com.

FREEDOM OF CHOICE AFFIRMED Lamont, using Humanist philosophy as his touchstone, convincingly argues the case for the existence of freedom of choice. Brilliantly reasoned and richly documented, Freedom of Choice Affirmed draws upon science, literature, and religion as well as the work of Einstein, Erich Fromm, William James, Spinoza, Luther, and Melville, among others. I have been thinking about the question of freedom of choice and determination for more than forty years, ever since I began my professional study of philosophy at Columbia University in 1926. In Freedom of Choice Affirmed I have tried to write a book that will not only prove useful to professional philosophers, especially in college teaching, but that also can be understood by the average reader.    —from the Introduction by Corliss Lamont

Third Revised Edition 1990 (Previous editions: 1969, 1967) Includes Prefaces, Guide to Meanings, Reference Notes, Selected Bibliography Indexed 214 pages Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 67-27793 ISBN 0-8264-0476-6 Available for purchase at Amazon.com.  Also available at barnesandnoble.com.

YES TO LIFE - MEMOIRS OF CORLISS LAMONT Lamont vividly recounts a lifetime devoted to Humanism, civil liberties, and international peace. Included are accounts of his famous court battles against Senator Joseph McCarthy and the CIA and memories of such persons as Bertrand Russell, George Santayana, John Dewey, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, and Katharine Hepburn. Few people have more right or reason to say yes to life than Corliss Lamont. This superb autobiography tells you why.    —Paul M. Sweezy

Revised Edition 1991 (Previous edition: 1981) Includes Preface, Foreword, Reference Notes Illustrated with 20 photographs Indexed 275 pages Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 91-4430 ISBN 0-8264-0477-4 Available for purchase at Amazon.com.

REMEMBERING JOHN MASEFIELD Corliss Lamont was a personal friend of Poet Laureate John Masefield (1878-1976), one of the great English poets of the twentieth century. In this book, Lamont has skillfully assembled and edited forty years worth of the poet's letters to produce an intimate and detailed portrait of both the public and private man. I heard him giving advice to a young poet, going over his poem line by line and showing him how to improve it. There was one line about "The marching Stars," and he said that stars had been marched to death. “Always remember that a strong writer makes the fantastic real. A weak writer makes the real fantastic.”    —From the Introduction by Judith Masefield

Revised Edition 1991 (Previous edition: 1971) Introduction by Judith Masefield Includes Bibliographical Note Illustrated with photographs Indexed 128 pages Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 91-4429 ISBN 0-8264-0478-2 Available for purchase at Amazon.com.

LOVER'S CREDO Lover's Credo celebrates lyrically the varying moods and aspects of love between a man and a woman, often set against the background of the natural world. Thirty-one poems, a lover's credo . . . commemorate what philosopher Lamont describes as eroto-aesthetic sensitivity. The bliss of sexual and spiritual love, the beauty of the loved one and of nature, the loneliness and ironies of lost romance are gracefully conveyed in these meticulously structured poems.    —The Booklist        American Library Association Corliss Lamont, bored with pornography and four-letter words, has shown that one can speak candidly of the delight of tenderness, passion, exaltation and lasting comradeship of two people in love without resorting to coarseness. The title poem, "Lover's Credo" is especially appealing . . . This little volume should please lovers of all ages.    —The Atlantic Journal Poems celebrating the intellectual and spiritual as well as the romantic and physical aspects of love between man and woman . . . illustrated with photographs as sensuous as the poems. The subjects and language of the poems are ageless.    —The Churchman Corliss Lamont announces a personal credo of love in his preface. The poems which follow constitute a set of variations on the theme. The tempo varies as well as the tone — there are occasional notes of humor, as in "On a Warm Day in Spring" — but the leitmotif remains true to the title of the book.    —Louis Untermeyer

Third Edition 1994 (Previous editions: 1983, 1972) Foreword by Bernard Grebanier Includes Preface and Acknowledgments Illustrated with photographs 71 pages Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 82-13909 ISBN 0-87233-114-8 Available from Amazon.com.   The full text of the 1994 edition of Lover's Credo is also available online on this Web site. WebTV users, and those using a browser which doesn't support frames, should use this link.

A HUMANIST WEDDING SERVICE Marriage is a supreme sharing of experience and an adventure in the most intimate of human relations. It is the joyous uniting of two persons whose comradeship and mutual understanding have flowered into romance. This wedding service in the Humanist spirit celebrates the joy and the beauty of life.

Third Revised Edition 1981 (Previous editions: 1972, 1970) 29 pages ISBN 0-87975-000-6 Available for purchase at Amazon.com.  Also available at barnesandnoble.com.

A HUMANIST FUNERAL SERVICE A Humanist Funeral Service offers an alternative ceremony for those who do not wish to use traditional religious forms. It provides meditations and eloquent passages of prose and poetry to express appreciation, grief, and farewell when a friend or loved one dies. One may choose, according to individual preference, the text and music felt to be most appropriate. The service is dignified and reminiscent of past relationships with the deceased, stressing love, the beauty of life, man's kinship with nature, and the naturalness of death. In the quest for solace at a time of grief, one can turn to this nontheistic service for security, comfort, and purpose in accepting the finality of the loss of a loved one.

Third Revised Edition 1985 (Previous editions: 1977, 1954) 48 pages Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 77-76001 ISBN 0-87975-090-1 Available for purchase at Amazon.com.  Also available at barnesandnoble.com.

Fourth Revised Edition 2011 (Previous editions: 1985, 1977, 1954) 66 pages Revised title: A Humanist Funeral Service and Celebration Revised by: Beth K. Lamont and J. Sierra Oliva ISBN 978-1-61614-409-8 (paperback) Available for purchase at Amazon.com.

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This page last revised:  January 14, 2012.

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