Intended Audience
Trade
Reviews
"A powerful argument for how to think about the place of religion in the modern world. It's going to be a classic." -- Seed Magazine, "Dawkins gives human sympathies and emotions their proper value, which...lends his criticisms of religion such force." --Philip Pullman, author of His Dark Materials trilogy, "If I had to identify Dawkins's cardinal virtues, I would say that he is brilliant, articulate, impassioned, and impolite..."The God Delusion" is a fine and significant book...Dawkins's irreverent and penetrating work will seem a breath of fresh air.", In the roiling debate between science and religion, it would be hard to exaggerate the enormous influence of Richard Dawkins., "The God Delusion is smart, compassionate, and true . . . If this book doesn't change the world, we're all screwed." --Penn & Teller, "A particularly comprehensive case against religion. Everyone should read it. Atheists will love Mr. Dawkins's incisive logic and rapier wit, and theists will find few better tests of the robustness of their faith." --Economist, "A powerful argument for how to think about the place of religion in the modern world. It's going to be a classic." -- Seed Magazine "In the roiling debate between science and religion, it would be hard to exaggerate the enormous influence of Richard Dawkins." Salon "A particularly comprehensive case against religion. Everyone should read it. Atheists will love Mr. Dawkins's incisive logic and rapier wit, and theists will find few better tests of the robustness of their faith." --Economist "If I had to identify Dawkins's cardinal virtues, I would say that he is brilliant, articulate, impassioned, and impolite . . .The God Delusion is a fine and significant book." The San Francisco Chronicle, "At last, one of the best nonfiction writers alive today has assembled his thoughts on religion into a characteristically elegant book." --Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor, Harvard University, author of The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, and The Blank Slate "A resounding trumpet blast for truth . . . It feels like coming up for air." --Matt Ridley, author of Genome and Francis Crick "Dawkins gives human sympathies and emotions their proper value, which...lends his criticisms of religion such force." --Philip Pullman, author of His Dark Materials trilogy "This is a brave and important book." --Desmond Morris, author of The Naked Ape and The Human Animal "Richard Dawkins is the leading soothsayer of our time. . . . The God Delusion continues his thought-provoking tradition." --J. Craig Venter, decoder of the human genome "The God Delusion is smart, compassionate, and true . . . If this book doesn't change the world, we're all screwed." --Penn & Teller "This is exceptional reading." Kirkus Reviews, Starred "The world needs . . . passionate rationalists . . . Richard Dawkins so stands out through the cutting intelligence of The God Delusion." --James D. Watson, co-discoverer of DNA, author of The Double Helix, "Richard Dawkins is the leading soothsayer of our time. . . . The GodDelusion continues his thought-provoking tradition." --J. Craig Venter, decoder of the human genome, "At last, one of the best nonfiction writers alive today has assembled his thoughts on religion into a characteristically elegant book." --Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor, Harvard University, author of The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, and The Blank Slate "A resounding trumpet blast for truth . . . It feels like coming up for air." --Matt Ridley, author of Genome and Francis Crick "Dawkins gives human sympathies and emotions their proper value, which...lends his criticisms of religion such force." --Philip Pullman, author of His Dark Materials trilogy "This is a brave and important book." --Desmond Morris, author of The Naked Ape and The Human Animal "Richard Dawkins is the leading soothsayer of our time. . . . The God Delusion continues his thought-provoking tradition." --J. Craig Venter, decoder of the human genome "The God Delusion is smart, compassionate, and true . . . If this book doesn't change the world, we're all screwed." --Penn & Teller This is exceptional reading." Kirkus Reviews, Starred "The world needs . . . passionate rationalists . . . Richard Dawkins so stands out through the cutting intelligence of The God Delusion." --James D. Watson, co-discoverer of DNA, author of The Double Helix, "The world needs . . . passionate rationalists . . . Richard Dawkins so stands out through the cutting intelligence of The God Delusion." --James D. Watson, co-discoverer of DNA, author of The Double Helix, If I had to identify Dawkins's cardinal virtues, I would say that he is brilliant, articulate, impassioned, and impolite . . .The God Delusion is a fine and significant book., A powerful argument for how to think about the place of religion in the modern world. It's going to be a classic.
Dewey Edition
22
CLASSIFICATION_METADATA
{"IsNonfiction":["Yes"],"IsOther":["No"],"IsAdult":["No"],"MuzeFormatDesc":["Trade Paperback"],"IsChildren":["No"],"Genre":["PHILOSOPHY","RELIGION"],"Topic":["General","Atheism","Religion, Politics & State","Criticism"],"IsTextBook":["Yes"],"IsFiction":["No"]}
Dewey Decimal
211/.8
Table Of Content
CONTENTS Preface 1 1 A DEEPLY RELIGIOUS NON-BELIEVER 9 Deserved respect 11 Undeserved respect 20 2 THE GOD HYPOTHESIS 29 Polytheism 32 Monotheism 37 Secularism, the Founding Fathers and the religion of America 38 The poverty of agnosticism 46 NOMA 54 The Great Prayer Experiment 61 The Neville Chamberlain school of evolutionists 66 Little green men 69 3 ARGUMENTS FOR GOD'S EXISTENCE 75 Thomas Aquinas' 'proofs' 77 The ontological argument and other a priori arguments 80 The argument from beauty 86 The argument from personal 'experience' 87 The argument from scripture 92 The argument from admired religious scientists 97 Pascal's Wager 103 Bayesian arguments 105 4 WHY THERE ALMOST CERTAINLY IS NO GOD 111 The Ultimate Boeing 747 113 Natural selection as a consciousness-raiser 114 Irreducible complexity 119 The worship of gaps 125 The anthropic principle: planetary version 134 The anthropic principle: cosmological version 141 An interlude at Cambridge 151 5 THE ROOTS OF RELIGION 161 The Darwinian imperative 163 Direct advantages of religion 166 Group selection 169 Religion as a by-product of something else 172 Psychologically primed for religion 179 Tread softly, because you tread on my memes 191 Cargo cults 202 6 THE ROOTS OF MORALITY: WHY ARE WE GOOD? 209 Does our moral sense have a Darwinian origin? 214 A case study in the roots of morality 222 If there is no God, why be good? 226 7 THE 'GOOD' BOOK AND THE CHANGING MORAL ZEITGEIST 235 The Old Testament 237 Is the New Testament any better? 250 Love thy neighbour 254 The moral Zeitgeist 262 What about Hitler and Stalin? Weren't they atheists? 272 8 WHAT'S WRONG WITH RELIGION? WHY BE SO HOSTILE? 279 Fundamentalism and the subversion of science 282 The dark side of absolutism 286 Faith and homosexuality 289 Faith and the sanctity of human life 291 The Great Beethoven Fallacy 298 How 'moderation' in faith fosters fanaticism 301 9 CHILDHOOD, ABUSE AND THE ESCAPE FROM RELIGION 309 Physical and mental abuse 315 In defence of children 325 An educational scandal 331 Consciousness-raising again 337 Religious education as a part of literary culture 340 10 A MUCH NEEDED GAP? 345 Binker 347 Consolation 352 Inspiration 360 The mother of all burkas 362 Appendix: A partial list of friendly addresses, for individuals needing support in escaping from religion 375 Books cited or recommended 380 Notes 388 Index 400
Synopsis
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER In the seminal text on atheism in the twenty-first centuy, renowned scientist Richard Dawkins examines the irrationality of believing in God and the grievous harm religion has inflicted on society. From the sex-obsessed tyrant in the Old Testament to the more benign Celestial Watchmaker favored by some Enlightenment thinkers, Dawkins rigorously analyzes God in all his forms, eviscerating the major arguments for religion and demonstrating the supreme improbability of a supreme being. His argument steeped in impressive historical and contemporary evidence, spanning from the Crusades to 9/11, Dawkins shows how religion fuels war and foments bigotry, and makes the compelling case that belief in God is not just wrong but potentially deadly. As a solution, Dawkins offers exhilarating insight into the advantages of atheism for the individual and society, not the least of which is a clearer, truer appreciation of the universe's wonders than any faith could ever muster., NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERINTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER In the seminal text on atheism in the twenty-first centuy, renowned scientist Richard Dawkins examines the irrationality of believing in God and the grievous harm religion has inflicted on society. From the sex-obsessed tyrant in the Old Testament to the more benign Celestial Watchmaker favored by some Enlightenment thinkers, Dawkins rigorously analyzes God in all his forms, eviscerating the major arguments for religion and demonstrating the supreme improbability of a supreme being. His argument steeped in impressive historical and contemporary evidence, spanning from the Crusades to 9/11, Dawkins shows how religion fuels war and foments bigotry, and makes the compelling case that belief in God is not just wrong but potentially deadly. As a solution, Dawkins offers exhilarating insight into the advantages of atheism for the individual and society, not the least of which is a clearer, truer appreciation of the universe's wonders than any faith could ever muster., A preeminent scientist--and the world's most prominent atheist--asserts the irrationality of belief in God and the grievous harm religion has inflicted on society, from the Crusades to 9/11. With rigor and wit, Dawkins examines God in all his forms, from the sex-obsessed tyrant of the Old Testament to the more benign (but still illogical) Celestial Watchmaker favored by some Enlightenment thinkers. He eviscerates the major arguments for religion and demonstrates the supreme improbability of a supreme being. He shows how religion fuels war, foments bigotry, and abuses children, buttressing his points with historical and contemporary evidence. The God Delusion makes a compelling case that belief in God is not just wrong but potentially deadly. It also offers exhilarating insight into the advantages of atheism to the individual and society, not the least of which is a clearer, truer appreciation of the universe's wonders than any faith could ever muster., A preeminent scientist -- and the world's most prominent atheist -- asserts the irrationality of belief in God and the grievous harm religion has inflicted on society, from the Crusades to 9/11. With rigor and wit, Dawkins examines God in all his forms, from the sex-obsessed tyrant of the Old Testament to the more benign (but still illogical) Celestial Watchmaker favored by some Enlightenment thinkers. He eviscerates the major arguments for religion and demonstrates the supreme improbability of a supreme being. He shows how religion fuels war, foments bigotry, and abuses children, buttressing his points with historical and contemporary evidence. The God Delusion makes a compelling case that belief in God is not just wrong but potentially deadly. It also offers exhilarating insight into the advantages of atheism to the individual and society, not the least of which is a clearer, truer appreciation of the universe's wonders than any faith could ever muster., In this provocative New York Times bestseller, now published in paperback with a new preface, the preeminent scientist--and the world's most prominent atheist-- Richard Dawkins eviscerates the major arguments for religion and demonstrates the supreme improbability of a supreme being. The God Delusion makes a compelling case that belief in God is not just wrong, but potentially deadly. With rigor and wit, Dawkins asserts the irrationality of belief in God and the grievous harm religion has inflicted on society, from the Crusades to 9/11. Supporting his points with historical and contemporary evidence, he shows how religion fuels war, foments bigotry, and abuses children. The God Delusion also offers exhilarating insight on the advantages of atheism to the individual and society, not the least of which is a clearer, truer appreciation of the universe's wonders than any faith could ever muster. This is a book that challenges each of us to test our beliefs, no matter what beliefs we hold.
ebay_catalog_id
4
Copyright Date
2006
