BELIEF AND UNBELIEF

Michael Novak's intention in this new work is to examine those experiences of intellectual life in which belief -- and, by negation, unbelief -- in God is . His approach is one of ""intelligent subjectivity"" applied to an analysis of belief, as an obvious part of human experience which is neither emotive nor in the common meaning of those terms. To those of us who have been accustomed Novak as a rather offensive and crude representative of the ""new breed"", this as a pleasant surprise. one, it seems, are the old Novak tendency to rage, gone, the name-calling and the fondness for sophistical generalization. is a new Novak, a serene and logically poised investigator of the phenomena unbelief, a careful delineator of the causes, symptoms, and manifestations states, and a writer of surprising perspicacity and intellectual acumen. ionally we may disagree with Novak's conclusions, with his reasoning, or of words (he still is inclined to prefer the dramatic to the accurate there can be no doubt that the present book is a well conceived and intel work of original merit and importance. The reading of it presupposes with basic philosophical concepts and a capacity for abstract thought, but limits the book is highly recommended.