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A review by notwellread
The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason by Sam Harris
3.0
3.5 stars.
The End of Faith is Sam Harris’ best-known diatribe against religion in the modern world, and his main contribution to the ‘New Atheist’ movement for which he has arguably become the sole enduring figure. Harris being a neuroscientist, the best and most unique parts of the book are when he looks at the human propensity towards faith in lieu of reason and examines the willingness to commit atrocities in the name of religious belief. He is willing to criticise beliefs directly, and makes this a central tenet of the book, in what he frames as a pushback against the increased politicisation of religion and stifling of dissent on the grounds of that it may cause offence. However, he also shows a reasonable grasp of and a thoughtful perspective on philosophical matters, and delves into subjects such as mysticism and the paranormal without the dismissiveness that characterises some otherwise similar works.
In my review of God is not Great, I defended Hitchens from the accusations of a prejudicial fixation upon Islam. On the other hand, Harris was inspired to write this book by the events of 9/11, so there is a thread of preoccupation with Islamic extremism that runs throughout the book, and is inextricable from it, though he does address the logical inconsistencies and awkward cultural position of religious moderates once or twice as well (which to me is a crucial plus-point). Harris begins by stating that, in an introductory narrative focused on a suicide bomber, it should be “easy to guess” the man’s religion, so he makes no secret of this focus. Harris is also not nearly so good a writer as Hitchens (though this is admittedly a high bar), so his examination of these subjects is much plainer and more direct, but reflects a ‘scientific’ approach to these questions where Hitchens is more literary and rhetorical.
Those highly familiar with these subjects may find the beginning and middle parts of the discussion familiar, and frankly quite basic at this point in time. I suspect the book has aged, since according to Harris it was met with direct opposition with the publishing company at the time of the book getting its contract, which a) suggests the views therein were quite novel in publishing at the time, and b) is difficult to imagine happening today, showing that we have already come quite a way on these issues (and on religious debate as a freedom of speech matter). On the other hand, the latter part of the book focuses on meditation, mysticism, and the views of Tibetan monks and the like on human consciousness (and goes into even more depth on these topics in the notes), which has been fairly noted as incongruous by some reviewers but which forms the more interesting and unique part of the book — a neuroscientist’s perspective on spiritual conceptions of consciousness. This is also the more balanced part, since he acknowledges the positive contributions of religion in these philosophical explorations, but conversely, given the significance of these contributions, this might lead the reader to wonder whether ‘ending’ faith is necessary after all.
Harris’ fans are right to warn against the robotically-voiced audiobook, and sometimes inflects his voice to sound like he disagrees with the text — of course disagreeing with any book is fine, but it’s not the place of the audiobook narrator. The notes are unfortunately excluded in audiobook form, but they are very extensive and form some of the more interesting discussions of the book in the form of tangents on mysticism and spirituality more generally. The newer edition also has a ‘response to controversy’ section at the end (which can also be read here, which helps to pick up some of the criticisms that have been made in other views (and the fact that he has declined to change the actual text, suggesting he stands by the main arguments). Harris has only read and commented upon the first three chapters in his podcast, providing updates to the topics discussed some fifteen years after original publication, but he has a much more pleasant voice and his elaboration improve the book significantly. Hopefully he finds the time at some point to pick it up again.
The End of Faith is Sam Harris’ best-known diatribe against religion in the modern world, and his main contribution to the ‘New Atheist’ movement for which he has arguably become the sole enduring figure. Harris being a neuroscientist, the best and most unique parts of the book are when he looks at the human propensity towards faith in lieu of reason and examines the willingness to commit atrocities in the name of religious belief. He is willing to criticise beliefs directly, and makes this a central tenet of the book, in what he frames as a pushback against the increased politicisation of religion and stifling of dissent on the grounds of that it may cause offence. However, he also shows a reasonable grasp of and a thoughtful perspective on philosophical matters, and delves into subjects such as mysticism and the paranormal without the dismissiveness that characterises some otherwise similar works.
In my review of God is not Great, I defended Hitchens from the accusations of a prejudicial fixation upon Islam. On the other hand, Harris was inspired to write this book by the events of 9/11, so there is a thread of preoccupation with Islamic extremism that runs throughout the book, and is inextricable from it, though he does address the logical inconsistencies and awkward cultural position of religious moderates once or twice as well (which to me is a crucial plus-point). Harris begins by stating that, in an introductory narrative focused on a suicide bomber, it should be “easy to guess” the man’s religion, so he makes no secret of this focus. Harris is also not nearly so good a writer as Hitchens (though this is admittedly a high bar), so his examination of these subjects is much plainer and more direct, but reflects a ‘scientific’ approach to these questions where Hitchens is more literary and rhetorical.
Those highly familiar with these subjects may find the beginning and middle parts of the discussion familiar, and frankly quite basic at this point in time. I suspect the book has aged, since according to Harris it was met with direct opposition with the publishing company at the time of the book getting its contract, which a) suggests the views therein were quite novel in publishing at the time, and b) is difficult to imagine happening today, showing that we have already come quite a way on these issues (and on religious debate as a freedom of speech matter). On the other hand, the latter part of the book focuses on meditation, mysticism, and the views of Tibetan monks and the like on human consciousness (and goes into even more depth on these topics in the notes), which has been fairly noted as incongruous by some reviewers but which forms the more interesting and unique part of the book — a neuroscientist’s perspective on spiritual conceptions of consciousness. This is also the more balanced part, since he acknowledges the positive contributions of religion in these philosophical explorations, but conversely, given the significance of these contributions, this might lead the reader to wonder whether ‘ending’ faith is necessary after all.
Harris’ fans are right to warn against the robotically-voiced audiobook, and sometimes inflects his voice to sound like he disagrees with the text — of course disagreeing with any book is fine, but it’s not the place of the audiobook narrator. The notes are unfortunately excluded in audiobook form, but they are very extensive and form some of the more interesting discussions of the book in the form of tangents on mysticism and spirituality more generally. The newer edition also has a ‘response to controversy’ section at the end (which can also be read here, which helps to pick up some of the criticisms that have been made in other views (and the fact that he has declined to change the actual text, suggesting he stands by the main arguments). Harris has only read and commented upon the first three chapters in his podcast, providing updates to the topics discussed some fifteen years after original publication, but he has a much more pleasant voice and his elaboration improve the book significantly. Hopefully he finds the time at some point to pick it up again.