The God Delusion

Hardcover, 374 pages

English language

Published Oct. 18, 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Co..

ISBN:
978-0-618-68000-9
Copied ISBN!
OCLC Number:
68965666
Goodreads:
14743

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4 stars (173 reviews)

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.

36 editions

The God Delusion

2 stars

Content warning CW: CSA

This book wouldn't have even aged well in 2006.

1 star

Content warning Discusses apologia of rape, abuse, and CSA; includes conversations of various bigotries (spin a wheel, and I promise it's there).

Review of 'The God Delusion' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This is another one that I'll need to re-listen to in order to give a proper review. I had a print copy of this book once that I sold back to the Book Barn in Niantic, thinking that I would never get around to reading it—I was looking for a print copy of The Selfish Gene when I first bought it.

I remembered that I used an Audible credit on this and decided to listen to it on a whim. It always nice that Lalla Ward helped in narrating the audiobooks—Selfish Gene was an example of that—and The God Delusion was no different. It went from an audiobook to fall asleep with to one that I spent some of my waking hours trying to understand where Dawkins was coming from.

The review may change once I do a second listen...or read—I might try to hunt down a print copy …

Review of 'The God Delusion' on 'Storygraph'

4 stars

I didn't need to be convinced that God is a delusion, but it was interesting to follow scientific logic to analyze religion and its inconsistencies. Dawkins builds up the God Hypothesis and my favourite part of the book is then he presents the spectrum of probabilities about the existence of God, ranging from 1 to 7, including for example "Strong Theist", "Impartial Agnostic" all the way to "Strong Atheist".
I considered myself an agnostic but after reading this book I realized I am "De facto Atheist " according to the Dawkins spectrum

"I cannot know for certain but I think God is very improbable, and I live my life on the assumption that he is not there."


It is an extremely provoking read. But worth the ride.

Review of 'The God delusion' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Outright calling it a delusion, straight in the title no less, really isn't the tack I would have taken. I also feel there is a kind of ableism and danger in immediately leaping to calling other people mentally ill when they do something we find wrong or dislikeable. Someone can be profoundly screwed up - engage in mass shootings even - and technically not be mentally ill, unless we are going to start calling all soldiers willing to mass shoot people mentally ill. 'Normal' human psychology is perfectly dangerous on its own.

That said, it does a good job at shocking people, getting talked about more than more tame offerings, and it has apparently made some people deconvert, and it is a genuinely good question why we should arbitrarily consider someone deluded in one case where they hear voices and yet not so in another case.

Review of 'The God Delusion' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Det er en lekse vi alltid gjenmer å lære, og det er at man ikke skal kritisere folk før en har hørt hva de har å si. Nå har jeg endelig hørt Richard Dawkins , og tiden for Å idiotforklare ham er over. Enig i alt, nei! Men fyren har langt mer greie på hva han snakker om enn de fleste av de som kritiserer ham - inkludert meg!

Review of 'The God Delusion' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

Richard Dawkins is an insufferable ass. I mean that wholly as an ad hominem attack; it has no bearing on the quality of his arguments. He secretes a superlatively patronizing tone that only the snootiest of Brits can attain, and he fully admits his abhorrence of the people that he claims to want to convert to his beliefs. As such, it's hard enough to read a book like The God Delusion without being distracted by all the snide parentheticals. Listening to it, as I did, is even more difficult because you get to hear every condescending inflection the way he intended it.

Moving past the tone and style of the book, however, I have to admit that I agree with many points Dawkins makes. In large part, he lays out his arguments rationally, coming to many of the same conclusions I have come to myself. He debunks a lot of …

Review of 'The God Delusion' on 'Storygraph'

4 stars

Despite the fact that while I read this book I was ranting and raving to my wife and anyone else who listened, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I do not always agree with Dawkins, though I agreed with him much more than I expected to. There has been quite a bit of discussion around this book. Many of the claims that I've read or heard about this book have turned out to be wrong. There have been misrepresentations from all sides.

Dawkins is, not surprisingly, at his best when he's explaining difficult scientific concepts. Unfortunately, the bulk of this book is not Dawkins at his best. Some of the arguments put forward in the book are supported by a rickety foundation of carefully selected examples. Others are simple rhetorical tricks. Still others seem so blisteringly obvious that one wonders why Dawkins bothered. Some of the arguments, though, are splendidly put …

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Subjects

  • Religion
  • Science
  • Philosophy
  • Atheism
  • Psychology
  • Spirituality
  • Theology
  • Evolution