A well-researched, engaging argument against blind faith.
Friedrich dissects the origins and sociological purposes of religion in this nonfiction work.
“Although people with blind faith often think of themselves as good, righteous people,” writes the author in the book’s introduction, “they can also be mobilized for very evil actions in the name of their religion or cause.” In this sweeping survey of world religious history, Friedrich begins with an exploration of the sociological role of religion across cultures before transitioning into a multichapter narrative of the development of specific religions, including Abrahamic faiths, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, and Buddhism. Taking a just-the-facts approach, the author places each religion within its cultural and historical context. While its first half is global in scope, the book’s second half sets its focus squarely on the West, offering a methodically developed case against Christianity. Chapter-length topics include biblical justifications of violence, Christianity’s “prudish and guilt ridden” approach toward morality, and connections between Christianity and Roman paganism. The book’s concluding chapters explore the ways in which Christianity has been used to justify imperialism and religious persecution. Raised in the Catholic Church, Friedrich only began to question the faith of his parents after he embarked upon a career in business; as his role as a corporate executive increasingly required global travel, the author “became more tolerant and interested in other cultures and beliefs.” Self-reflection about his own beliefs, combined with subsequent historical research, led him to question many of the tenets he had been taught by religious authorities. Dedicating this book to his adult children, whom he implores to approach faith through the lens of “critical thinking and intellectual curiosity,” Friedrich argues that an honest examination of religious history and doctrine will “lead to a better, kinder, and less selfish society.” While pious readers may disagree with the author’s ultimate conclusions regarding the veracity of their beliefs and balk at his descriptions of religious “fantasy,” Friedrich backs up his arguments with a wealth of scholarly references. The text has an accessible writing style and is accompanied by a wealth of full-color, high-resolution maps, images, charts, and other visual elements.
A well-researched, engaging argument against blind faith.Pub Date: Dec. 16, 2024
ISBN: 9798992059120
Page Count: 396
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: April 23, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our...
A psychologist and Nobel Prize winner summarizes and synthesizes the recent decades of research on intuition and systematic thinking.
The author of several scholarly texts, Kahneman (Emeritus Psychology and Public Affairs/Princeton Univ.) now offers general readers not just the findings of psychological research but also a better understanding of how research questions arise and how scholars systematically frame and answer them. He begins with the distinction between System 1 and System 2 mental operations, the former referring to quick, automatic thought, the latter to more effortful, overt thinking. We rely heavily, writes, on System 1, resorting to the higher-energy System 2 only when we need or want to. Kahneman continually refers to System 2 as “lazy”: We don’t want to think rigorously about something. The author then explores the nuances of our two-system minds, showing how they perform in various situations. Psychological experiments have repeatedly revealed that our intuitions are generally wrong, that our assessments are based on biases and that our System 1 hates doubt and despises ambiguity. Kahneman largely avoids jargon; when he does use some (“heuristics,” for example), he argues that such terms really ought to join our everyday vocabulary. He reviews many fundamental concepts in psychology and statistics (regression to the mean, the narrative fallacy, the optimistic bias), showing how they relate to his overall concerns about how we think and why we make the decisions that we do. Some of the later chapters (dealing with risk-taking and statistics and probabilities) are denser than others (some readers may resent such demands on System 2!), but the passages that deal with the economic and political implications of the research are gripping.
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our minds.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-27563-1
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
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This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
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