Quote:
Originally Posted by booyalab
ugh.
here's a quote by a critic in the London Review of Books that sums up my view of this man nicely
|
I find some of what's said in that quote grossly unfair - Dawkins does at least attempt to rationalise why people have a tendency to follow religion, even if labeling it a 'virus' might have been a poor move. The fundamental difficulty is that you can't challenge 'faith' since it's not rational. All you can challenge are the so-called rational bases for faith - and since these tend to be ludicrous any arguments against them come across as inflammatory and churlish. With that said, Dawkins does come across as unnecessarily dismissive and inconsiderate in certain sections of the book (and unfortunately, given the strength of the Selfish Gene, I found the gene/meme-based section of The God Delusion to be one of its weakest chapters). I wonder how much of this was down to his editor driving the book for the money spinner he knew it could be...which is no excuse, since Dawkins is well aware of the publishing system.
Bleh, it's late and I want to go to bed. And I won't spoil the book for hereandnow.