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| The God Delusion | 
 enlarge | Author: Richard Dawkins
Publisher: Mariner Books
Category: Book
List Price: $15.95 (37.55 RON)
Buy New: $10.31 (24.27 RON)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  1321 reviews
Sales Rank: 186
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 464
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.4 x 1.3
ISBN: 0618918248
Dewey Decimal Number: 211
EAN: 9780618918249
ASIN: 0618918248
Publication Date: January 16, 2008
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| Customer Reviews:
Enlightenment Through Science December 22, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
The God Delusion is Richard Dawkins' atheist manifesto.
Mr. Dawkins thoroughly dissects common arguments for God's existence, while presenting his incontrovertible assertion of God's non-existence, chiefly that such an assumption represents an infinite regress. After dealing with this central point of contention, he proceeds to analyze religion and its tenuous connection to morality.
Never one to mince words, Mr. Dawkins has plenty of cutting, often witty, remarks against faith and religion. His views are rooted strictly in science, and he makes no apologies about questions for which science does not provide adequate answers. Those questions should be seen as a opportunity for the pursuit of knowledge, he suggests, rather than defaulting to unquestioning religious perspectives.
I usually take notes while reading, in order to reinforce the material. But the arguments presented in The God Delusion seemed so logical, indeed almost intuitive in presentation, that taking notes was almost not worth the effort. Mr. Dawkins, while possessing deep and scientific knowledge, is also capable of writing with clarity for a wide audience.
While I'm not sure how many atheist converts Mr. Dawkins will gain through this book (one of his stated goals), he does provide an enlightening perspective on religion and an inspiring view of science. Open-minded and scientifically-inclined readers will enjoy this book. Those unwilling to question their faith should avoid it.
 Good read for atheist , no so good for theist December 20, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Dawkins is the most popular proponent of atheism since Russel. Being a biologist , his argument focuses mostly on evolution and less on quantum physics.
It is a very enjoyable book for people who are agnostic/atheist but have not had a simple book for them to explain their point of view. Definitely very light compared to some of the works of Bertrand Russel (Why I am not a Christian ?) or Hume or Nietzsche.
This is not a book for firm believers who have no iota of doubt in their minds. They would get offended on the first page and after than lose objectivity.
Same thing happens to most atheist when they start reading the drivel written by the theologists.
On the book itself:
Most arguments are old and are presented in new fashion (religion brings wars , hatred , controlling lives of others , intolerance , 9/11).
Couple of new things which author had tackled is the indoctrination of children , innate human morality , existing of god in every culture. For the last 2 there are good theories presented but it is difficult to get evidence. Maybe we need an atheist Anthropologist too.
Worth Ponderin' December 20, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I strongly suspect that any single book, unless it carries "higher" authority, isn't going to convince anyone to switch their religious preference. That said, the God Delusion was actually pretty good as just reading material. It makes a valid statement, namely that while no one can ever prove God's existence (or lack thereof) there are shades of possibility and God fits into the same shade as tooth fairies and Santa. Then it goes on to explain why this is so, and it does a fairly good job of it. I can only assume it gets the facts right, being a casual reader, but it's enough to get someone thinking.
It's laid out as a logical argument, sticks pretty close to the point, and concludes that religion is both dangerous and divisive. If you're the kind of person who really believes in the word of any holy book with a great deal of conviction, this is probably not for you. It takes religion off the respect pedestal and applies logic which you're probably going to find offensive or worse. If you're on the fence, however, this could be a fun read. I enjoyed it, although I started out in the atheist category so it didn't exactly offend me in any way. If you get easily offended, well, it's not pulling punches...
Good Stuff But Let's Not Overstep our Bounderies December 19, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
Well, sure, why not add my own review to the 1000+ reviews on Amazon alone, not to mention on-going discussions Dawkins has had with about everybody, friend or foe...
So let's jump in. Dawkins does a valuable service, I feel, in poking holes in typical fundamentalism. He also does a great job showing how family, religious figures, and other psychological conditioning inevitably shapes a person's religious views from an early age. His comments on the inconsistencies and anthropomorphims found in the Bible will be welcome news to many, although these points are old hat to mainstream New Testament scholars (who, it should be mentioned, mostly don't end up in Dawkins' camp even with this awareness). In his religious critiques Dawkins is joined by other prominent scientists who have written extensively on the dangers of religion, such as physicist Victor Stenger, Nobel Leaurate Steven Weinberg and many others. Atheists love these guys, while the true believers detest them. Unfortunately, we cannot posit intelligence as the deciding factor here, because plenty of highly intelligent people can be found in either camp, or in neither of them (in fact, the smartest position to me seems to be, "I have no idea what ultimate truth is, and neither do you"). There are many science Nobel Laurates that are sympathetic to a spiritual or downright religious worldview, for example, so prominance in science is no arbitrator in this debate. This is a point to remember when the debate gets heated and folks begin to talk a little too dogmatic either way.
I've observed over the years that the supposed clash between science and religion is much more complex than most people make it out to be. For every argument science can make, the religious folks can tweak their worldview and come up with a solution. We can get as subtle and complex in the arguments as one would like to, and still argue either way. And, it should be mentioned, even non-believers can find some of the purely materialist "answers" quite unsatisfactory and arbitrary, such as the currently-popular "multiverse" idea in cosmology. Because religion (and most philosophy, for that matter) is largely a metaphysical worldview, scientific arguments won't make much of a dent in a true believer's religious armor. As other reviewers have noticed here, it is highly unlikely any true believer is going to convert to Dawkins' views after reading this book. And it is also unlikely devout (notice that word) atheists will be won over by arguments the believers put forth. There are many reasons why such debates end up fruitless; I believe one of the main reasons is that people have highly variable "thresholds" on where they draw the line regarding any importance placed on empirical data. Probably one's conditioning over a lifetime determines a great deal of how much value (or not) one puts on empirical data. People vary quite a bit on that- witness the reviews here on this book.
The book does have weaknesses; Dawkins is no expert on religion or theology, nor particularly informed on areas where science (particularly areas in physics) begins to meet with the boundaries of metaphysics. Other scientists with a broader approach have noticed that science is entering an extremely interesting phase of "experimental metaphysics", where some formerly philosophical areas (strong vs. weak realism, locality, nature of time, role of consciousness, etc) are being looked at, for the first time in history, through EXPERIMENTAL research. Exciting times are ahead. Dawkins' book, however, has a different task- seemingly his goal is to bash fundamentalists. On that basis, he succeeds. On a broader basis, he needs to lighten up -).
Personally, even though I think guys like Dawkins, Weinberg and Co. do a good job debunking the true believers (i.e., the biblical literalists), there remains much that the scientific method cannot directly penetrate. Over-confidence isn't wise. Personally again, when I read much of this anti-spiritual material from current scientists, I begin to lament the lack of cultural and philosophical depth that was exhibited by some of the pioneers in science even in this century, such as Werner Heisenberg, Niels Bohr, Einstein, Pauli, Schrodinger and many others. These pioneers came out of a grand philsophical background, and it shows in their elaborations on areas outside of science proper. I just think a lot of that is missing in today's polemics against "spirituality". Heisenberg, for example, wrote of the need for fresh examination of old religious and philosophical ideas, which were perhaps poorly framed, and see if anything fruitful could be extracted and recast into modern terms. Now that is a reasonableness I would like to see more of. Dawkins ain't our guy for that.
Fascinating Reading December 18, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
I've recently been thinking a great deal about religion, trying to decide if there is a religion that fits into my worldview, and if there is an incarnation of God I could believe in. I've been coming up blank.
Although the tone of this book is sometimes harsh and could be offensive to the devout, I really enjoyed reading it, as it helped me to clarify some of the major problems I have with organized religion. I especially appreciated the author pointing out the inconsistencies in the Bible when it comes to the life of Jesus. I also was glad that someone else had noticed how brutal some of the Bible stories are, and how they present a God who is horrifyingly unfair, unjust, and cruel.
Reading this book and finding myself agreeing with so many of the author's arguments against religion helped me to take a few more steps in the direction of atheism. I feel enriched and better armed against religion after reading it.
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