author
Chapman Cohen
1868–1954
A self-educated English freethinker and prolific secularist writer, he became one of the best-known public critics of religion in early 20th-century Britain. His work is remembered for its plain style, sharp argument, and determination to make big philosophical ideas accessible to ordinary readers.
4 Audiobooks
Theism or Atheism: The Great Alternative
by Chapman Cohen
Religion & Sex: Studies in the Pathology of Religious Development
by Chapman Cohen
Determinism or Free-Will?
by Chapman Cohen
A Grammar of Freethought
by Chapman Cohen
About the author
Born in Leicester in 1868, Chapman Cohen was largely self-educated and developed an early interest in philosophy and freethought. He moved to London in 1889 and soon became active in the secularist movement, building a reputation as a lecturer and essayist who wrote clearly for general readers.
Cohen is especially associated with the National Secular Society and The Freethinker. After G. W. Foote's death in 1915, he became president of the National Secular Society and editor of The Freethinker, roles that made him a major voice in British secularism for decades. He wrote extensively on religion, ethics, philosophy, and social questions, and was often praised for explaining difficult ideas in a direct, readable way.
He died in 1954, but his books and essays continued to circulate among readers interested in atheism, humanism, and rationalist thought. For listeners coming to his work today, he stands out as a forceful, energetic writer who wanted serious arguments to be understandable outside the academy.