Sam Harris

Samuel Benjamin Harris (born April 9, 1967) is an American philosopher, neuroscientist, author, and podcast host.

His work touches on a range of topics, including rationality, religion, ethics, free will, neuroscience, meditation, psychedelics, philosophy of mind, politics, terrorism, and artificial intelligence.

Harris came to prominence for his criticism of religion, and is known as one of the "Four Horsemen" of New Atheism, along with Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Daniel Dennett.

Samuel Benjamin Harris was born in Los Angeles, California, on April 9, 1967.

He is the son of the late actor Berkeley Harris, who appeared mainly in Western films, and TV writer and producer Susan Harris (née Spivak), who created Soap and The Golden Girls, among other series.

His father, born in North Carolina, came from a Quaker background, and his mother is Jewish but not religious.

He was raised by his mother following his parents' divorce when he was age two.

Harris has stated that his upbringing was entirely secular and that his parents rarely discussed religion, though he also stated that he was not raised as an atheist.

While his original major was in English, Harris became interested in philosophical questions while at Stanford University after an experience with MDMA.

The experience interested him in the idea he might be able to achieve spiritual insights without the use of drugs.

Leaving Stanford in his second year, a quarter after his psychoactive experience, he visited India and Nepal, where he studied meditation with teachers of Buddhist and Hindu religions, including Dilgo Khyentse.

For a few weeks in the early 1990s, he was a volunteer guard in the security detail of the Dalai Lama.

In 1997, after eleven years overseas, Harris returned to Stanford, completing a B.A. degree in philosophy in 2000.

Harris began writing his first book, The End of Faith, immediately after the September 11 attacks.

Harris's first book, The End of Faith (2004), won the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for First Nonfiction and remained on The New York Times Best Seller list for 33 weeks.

The End of Faith (2004) remained on The New York Times Best Seller list for 33 weeks.

Harris has since written six additional books: Letter to a Christian Nation in 2006, The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values in 2010, the long-form essay Lying in 2011, the short book Free Will in 2012, Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion in 2014, and (with British writer Maajid Nawaz) Islam and the Future of Tolerance: A Dialogue in 2015.

Harris's work has been translated into over 20 languages.

Some critics have argued that Harris's writings are Islamophobic.

Harris and his supporters, however, reject this characterization, adding that such a labeling is an attempt to silence criticism.

Harris has debated with many prominent figures on the topics of God or religion, including William Lane Craig, Jordan Peterson, Rick Warren, Robert Wright, Andrew Sullivan, Cenk Uygur, Reza Aslan, David Wolpe, Deepak Chopra, Ben Shapiro, and Peter Singer.

In September 2006 Harris debated Robert Wright on the rationality of religious belief.

In 2007, he engaged in a lengthy debate with conservative commentator Andrew Sullivan on the Internet forum Beliefnet.

In April 2007, Harris debated with evangelical pastor Rick Warren for Newsweek magazine.

Harris debated with Rabbi David Wolpe in 2007.

He received a Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience in 2009 from the University of California, Los Angeles, using functional magnetic resonance imaging to conduct research into the neural basis of belief, disbelief, and uncertainty.

His thesis was titled The Moral Landscape: How Science Could Determine Human Values.

His advisor was Mark S. Cohen.

Harris's writing concerns philosophy, neuroscience, and criticism of religion.

He came to prominence for his criticism of religion (Islam in particular) and he is described as one of the Four Horsemen of Atheism, along with Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Daniel Dennett.

He has written for publications such as The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Economist, London Times, The Boston Globe, and The Atlantic.

Five of Harris's books have been New York Times bestsellers, and his writing has been translated into over 20 languages.

In 2010, Harris joined Michael Shermer to debate with Deepak Chopra and Jean Houston on the future of God in a debate hosted by ABC News Nightline.

Harris debated with Christian philosopher William Lane Craig in April 2011 on whether there can be an objective morality without God.

Since September 2013, Harris has hosted the Making Sense podcast (originally titled Waking Up), which has a large listenership.

In September 2013, Harris began releasing the Waking Up podcast (since re-titled Making Sense).

In September 2018, Harris released a meditation app, Waking Up with Sam Harris.

He was one of the original core members of the so-called "intellectual dark web", although Harris has stated that he does not identify as a part of that group.

In June and July 2018, he met with Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson for a series of debates on religion, particularly the relationship between religious values and scientific fact in defining truth.

Harris has debated with the scholar Reza Aslan.