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Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon
by Daniel C. Dennett
by Daniel C. Dennett
I really wanted to like this book, because I'd just finished reading The End of Faith and God is Not Great, but this book suffers from lack of conviction. Where The End of Faith is the absolute model of conviction, and God is Not Great lays out convincing arguments (but takes some of their momentum away with dryly humorous asides), Breaking the Spell has neither conviction nor cleverness.
I confess I only read the first couple of chapters, because I lost interest in an author who wasn't willing to commit to a point of view. He's basically saying yes, religion is a dangerous, polarizing influence on human behavior but hey: you can believe whatever you wanna believe - can't we all get along?
The reason I loved The End of Faith so much is because Sam Harris chose a convincing point of view and supported it with compelling - even poetic - arguments. Chris Hitchens seems like he'd be fun to get a drink with, and Daniel Dennet seems like he couldn't even decide what drink to order.
I confess I only read the first couple of chapters, because I lost interest in an author who wasn't willing to commit to a point of view. He's basically saying yes, religion is a dangerous, polarizing influence on human behavior but hey: you can believe whatever you wanna believe - can't we all get along?
The reason I loved The End of Faith so much is because Sam Harris chose a convincing point of view and supported it with compelling - even poetic - arguments. Chris Hitchens seems like he'd be fun to get a drink with, and Daniel Dennet seems like he couldn't even decide what drink to order.
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Oliver
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rated it 2 stars
Jul 28, 2008 05:45pm
I agree with you that End of Faith was fantastic and very passionate. I am currently reading Breaking the Spell (half way done) and I'm struggling to stay interested in it. I loved End of Faith and God Delusion, but this one is a bit too slow and wishy-washy.
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Would you call it more a work of philosophical theory? Perhaps it proposes various viewpoints, supporting none, for that purpose.
The books concept strikes me as a good one, as I've often thought we have been socialized into religious belief, and like anything we learn from our parents at an early age, it sticks.
The books concept strikes me as a good one, as I've often thought we have been socialized into religious belief, and like anything we learn from our parents at an early age, it sticks.
I haven't read this yet but I'm very attracted to the premise. The fact is we can believe as we want. The problem however comes when people confuse fantasy with fact. I suspect, when I read this book, it will lay out interesting ideas that suggest religion is not what it seems. If only we could communicate that to the churches. Their social systems may still remain but removing their paranoia about the supernatural would be a strong move towards rationality. Understanding religion only weakens it more.
Dennett set out to be very careful and reasonable about religion - he has no wish to inflame or anger, as far as I can see. This must be a positive thing.
