The Soul Delusion

Hardcover, 224 pages

Published by Bloomsbury Academic.

The case against the soul-and why life is better without one.

The soul, like the Christian notion of the devil, has increasingly become contested, even for traditional believers. Considered objectively, the soul is a strange notion, one entirely at odds with everything we know about how the world actually works. And yet belief in the soul persists, among both the religiously inclined and non-believers.

The Soul Delusion is a wake-up call, encouraging readers to think critically about something widely taken for granted. Evolutionary biologist David P. Barash takes a deep dive into the nature of the soul by reviewing the diverse and often conflicting notions of what the soul is supposed to be and revealing practical problems deriving from such delusive how the soul-certain agitate against early and mid-stage abortions because of their insistence that an embryo has a soul, and thus, must be “saved”, even at the …

The case against the soul-and why life is better without one.

The soul, like the Christian notion of the devil, has increasingly become contested, even for traditional believers. Considered objectively, the soul is a strange notion, one entirely at odds with everything we know about how the world actually works. And yet belief in the soul persists, among both the religiously inclined and non-believers.

The Soul Delusion is a wake-up call, encouraging readers to think critically about something widely taken for granted. Evolutionary biologist David P. Barash takes a deep dive into the nature of the soul by reviewing the diverse and often conflicting notions of what the soul is supposed to be and revealing practical problems deriving from such delusive how the soul-certain agitate against early and mid-stage abortions because of their insistence that an embryo has a soul, and thus, must be “saved”, even at the risk of the mother's health, for instance, and how soul-belief has provided marching orders for cruelty toward animals because of the claim that only we have souls and therefore animals don't deserve protection.

The Soul Delusion also aims to liberate people from fear of hell and free them to enjoy what poet Mary Oliver called “your wild and precious life.” It challenges the assumption that a soul is needed for people to live moral lives, while exposing the misleading nature of supposed near death experiences. It also illuminates how being soul-free opens us to an appreciation of our wonderful lives in the real, the here-and-now, and the prospect of a future without souls.

1 edition

Amber Herbert reviewed The Soul Delusion by David P. Barash

A Snarky, Academic Look at Souls that Overstays Its Welcome

2 stars

The Soul Delusion, from the start, is not for soul believers. It is for the already soulless, or those who find themselves questioning their possession of a soul. If you're religious or spiritual, this book will likely ruffle your feathers. As an atheist and apsychist (a non-believer in souls), I initially found the tone charming. It quickly grew tiring.

What you're getting with this book is a lot of repetition packaged as academic writing, which it inarguably is. If you read from start to finish, you're likely to grow bored of the gimmick from one chapter to the next. The bibliography is half comments, not proper sources, which devalue the author's arguments. If you're seeking reliable sources and ways in which to dive deeper into the material the author provides, you'll be disappointed.

While there's a lot here to tickle your curiosity, I believe each chapter would do …

The Soul Delusion, from the start, is not for soul believers. It is for the already soulless, or those who find themselves questioning their possession of a soul. If you're religious or spiritual, this book will likely ruffle your feathers. As an atheist and apsychist (a non-believer in souls), I initially found the tone charming. It quickly grew tiring.

What you're getting with this book is a lot of repetition packaged as academic writing, which it inarguably is. If you read from start to finish, you're likely to grow bored of the gimmick from one chapter to the next. The bibliography is half comments, not proper sources, which devalue the author's arguments. If you're seeking reliable sources and ways in which to dive deeper into the material the author provides, you'll be disappointed.

While there's a lot here to tickle your curiosity, I believe each chapter would do better as its own academic paper. The first half of the book could have easily been condensed into two chapters. The chapter on dualism (while fascinating) is overlong to the point of making itself redundant. The rest, which focuses on other beliefs such as miracles and NDEs, might have been more fascinating if it hadn't come after everything else.

The Soul Delusion would be most fascinating if you're uncertain about souls. As someone who considers themselves hopeful but ultimately apsychist (like myself), you won't be gaining much from this read—unless you're hoping to use the contents in heated arguments amongst friends.

*Thank you to Bloomsbury Academic and NetGalley for the ARC.