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Title: Atheism: The Case Against God by George H. Smith ISBN: 0-87975-124-X Publisher: Prometheus Books Pub. Date: June, 1980 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.8 (181 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent Primer In Religious Apologetics
Comment: Though I consider myself a Christian, I do not support the Christian apologetic stance that our faith can be verified through reason, and George Smith's "Atheism: The Case Against God" gives ample reasons as to why. Faith should be, as Soren Kierkegaard envisioned it, a purely irrational leap.
The restriction on the length of my review of this book (imposed by
Amazon.com at a 1,000 words) does not allow me to delineate all the positive particulars this book has to offer. Regrettably, I can only emphasize what aspects of this book distinguish it from other works of a similar nature.
One of the most attractive features that I found in Smith's book was his ability to convey complex philosophical dilemmas, that are germane to the realm of theism, without falling into the common practice - which most professional philosophers constantly do - of inundating his arguments with esoteric jargon. Any laymen can peruse through Smith's work without having to open a philosophical dictionary every five minutes. While Smith does put forth his charges against religious belief in a manner that is fairly easy to grasp, he does not sacrifice substantive content, therefore an individual who is more seasoned in the subject of philosophy and theology will not find "Atheism: The Case Against God" lacking by any means. This ability to reach both the philosophical hobbyist and the academician speaks much of Smith's talent as a writer as it does of him as a philosopher.
Outside this book's easily discernable assertions, another noteworthy characteristic of Smith's piece is its originality. In reading other works relating to non-theistic argumentation, I began to see the same routine of arguing for atheism, which consisted of providing a summation of a particular theistic argument, and then find certain fallacies or misrepresentations that the argument may have. Whether the argument happened to be cosmological, teleological, ontological, or moralistic the same technique was employed to engage all of them. Though this is a very effective means of addressing an argument, it is one that has been used ad nauseam. So for an individual who has been exposed to a great deal of such kinds of work, it is refreshing to see this more innovative approach to the whole theistic/atheistic controversy.
If one had to describe Smith's approach in one word that word would have to be "fundamental". As stated earlier, other philosophical works that address the theistic position get bogged down in the various details of theistic argumentation, without striking at the root or presupposition that such arguments are built on. Smith's technique on the other hand address what is at the heart of these arguments.
What is at the root of most theistic arguments for the belief in a
God? According to Smith this is not the proper question to ask. The proper question to ask is what is presupposition of any argument period. The answer to this question is the ability to decipher truth from falsehood.
Yet verification, as Smith so deftly explains to his audience, rests on the use of certain standards, which gauge the reality of any given proposition. Since we exist within a universe our standards must be derived from our perception of the universe. Given this idea, if anything is posited, which exists outside the universe (i.e. God or any form of supernatural entity), the argument is futile. In fact, as Mr. Smith rightly claims, it is not an argument at all. The universe, in the words of Ayn Rand are the "causal primary". One cannot talk about causation (i.e. cosmological arguments), design (i.e. teleological arguments), or moralistic arguments unless one is speaking within a proper context, which in this case is the universe itself. To do otherwise is to regress into a state of incoherence. For example, it is ultimately absurd to talk about a cause to the universe, if we derive the concept of cause from our observation of the universe. To talk about a concept, such as causal relationships, outside the context from which the concept was realized (i.e. the universe) is to divorce it from its context. Thus the theist has rendered his argument ineffective. To paraphrase Mr. Smith "to talk about a cause to the universe is like talking about a bird's flight with no atmosphere." In one crushing argumentative blow after another, with the physical universe as a necessary axiom, Mr. Smith annihilates most of traditional theistic rhetoric, without even delving into the individual fallacies, which are inherent in all of them. Only two words are necessary to describe his approach - "SHEER BRILLIANCE!!!" The theist is left with very few options. He either can retract all his assertions and admit that there is no rational basis for the belief in God or he can attack the very foundation of reason (the physical universe) - thus precluding his right to employ argument. Either way, George Smith backs the Christian apologist and proponents of the supernatural into such a tight corner, that it is virtually impossible for them to escape
A theist, who has read other critiques on theism and agrees with them, may believe that he has some recourse in faith. However Mr. Smith has addressed this issue and shown it as an invalid method for attaining the truth. Clearly Mr. Smith in his book "Atheism: The Case Against God" leaves theists with no options. He has shown theism, and especially the Christian manifestation of it, for what it truly is - a worldview rife with misology. Mr. Smith undermines the old Christian adage that all truth can be found if one believes in God, and instead edifies David's Brooks position that "to explain the unknown by the known is logical procedure, but to explain the known by the unknown is a form of theological lunacy." This book is a must read for anyone pondering the claims of theism seriously.
Rating: 4
Summary: This book is a good introduction to atheism.
Comment: In my opinion, this book provides a good introduction to atheism and related philosophical issues. The hostile-sounding title might put some people off, but Smith makes it clear in the first section of his book that the primary focus of the book is whether or not theistic claims should be accepted as true. If one can show that theistic belief if flawed (the case against god), then one supports atheism.
Smith then proceeds to do just that for the remainder of his book. He covers basic and important subjects such as god concepts, faith, morality, and common arguments for god. Smith argues that no rational person can accept theism as true and he discusses the philosophical problems of many theistic arguments. Smith writes in a non-technical style, and this may be why the book is popular. I think Smith's book could serve as a good starting point for approaching more thorough and technical books on atheism.
Smith spends much of the book analyzing Christianity, and I would have preferred it if he spent more time looking at theism in general. Throughout the book, he describes major flaws in Christianity, and after awhile it appears as though he's just whipping a dead horse. Of course, it's a dead horse that many people insist on riding, so I suppose that critiquing it from several perspectives may help to convince some of the riders that they're not going anywhere on that beast.
If you are a philosophical layperson who wants to learn more about atheism, then this is the book you should read.
Now, if I may digress, it appears that some of the reviews posted before mine do not really review the book at all. Instead, they provide theistic arguments that supposedly refute the arguments that Smith makes in his book. It is interesting to note that the theistic arguments offered below are actually covered in Smith's book, where he shows them to be flawed. It makes me wonder if some of those reviewers actually read or understood the book.
Rating: 5
Summary: Fundamentalists attempt analysys without proper exegesis!!!
Comment: This book justifies why the concept of faith is not a cognitively acceptable means of arriving at truth, and if we make an exception only to religious faith, we have thrown out reason in it's entirety. It is very irritating when fundamentalist reviewers come on here and write reviews that do not challegnge or give any examples of how this book's arguments are "outdated and long defeated", as wrote one reviewer from Aurora Ontario. Then give us an example, which argument? First of all, this person wrote that Smith argues for Atheim in a negative sense and not in a positive sense, where in the book, the author clearly argues a positive sense of atheism-- proof that this person either did not care to read carefully, or does not write an accurate exegesis of his work at all, (and probabily did not even read the book). If you're gonna write a review, don't just show insensitivity to the work by trying to explain it away with a dry remark rather then telling us which argument you are specifically referring to.
In fact, Smith has a very sophisticated cosmological argument refutation, with a clear-cut case that shows that by taking away the existence of the natural universe as a causal primary, the result is a dropping of the context in which causality is possible. And also since matter has not been proven to appear or dissappear, but only, accumulate, change state, disintegrate, expand, or compress, we have no right to betray the existence of the universe by treating speculative claims as the truth, but which have no basis in fact. If reviewers at least show courtesy by engaging the arguments like these before giving a low star rating to the book, at least the person agues for his or her claims. This sort of fallacious lne of thought is reminiscent of Christianity's erroneous assumption that the terms obedience and morality are identical. But let me go with this line of thought and ask the Christian: 1) how is it even the slightest bit moral to obey autocratic commands from the most morally reprehensible doctrine ever- one of threats of the most vicious physical force? I don't even know why I am even offering a so much respect to these people by giving them an argument in cases like this that do not even deserve the respect and regard of my challenge.
The ongoing fallacies of the religionist are anti-reason.
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Title: The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold by Acharya S ISBN: 0932813747 Publisher: Adventures Unlimited Press Pub. Date: September, 1999 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher to Atheist by Dan Barker, Annie L. Gaylor, Daniel E. Barker ISBN: 1877733075 Publisher: Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc. Pub. Date: September, 1992 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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Title: Why Atheism? by George H. Smith ISBN: 1573922684 Publisher: Prometheus Books Pub. Date: November, 2000 List Price(USD): $19.00 |
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Title: Why I Am Not a Christian : And Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects by Bertrand Russell ISBN: 0671203231 Publisher: Touchstone Books Pub. Date: 30 October, 1967 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: The Born Again Skeptic's Guide To The Bible by Ruth Hurmence Green ISBN: 1877733016 Publisher: Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc. Pub. Date: 15 February, 1999 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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