Rating: 
Summary: Disappointingly Misleading
Review: I bought Jennifer Hecht's book, Doubt, believing the book jacket's claim to be "a fascinating account of how Doubt has been a driving force in the intellectual and religious history of the world." I found the book to be a great disappointment.As a person who happens to believe in God, I am willing to give up the word "free thinker" to atheists. There is historic precedence for that. But it is most inaccurate for Hecht to co-opt the word "doubt" as a synonym for "atheist". That is essentially what she does throughout the book, keeping the reader a bit off balance through the opening chapters by using Jesus, Paul, Augustine, Martin Luther, and other "believers" as examples of doubters. But by the final chapter, it is clear that a "doubter", in Hecht's world, is an "atheist". Nothing could be further from the truth. Doubt is an integral component to *all* discovery. Scientific, social, educational, and yes, even theological discovery are all propelled forward by people willing to doubt that the way we've always looked at something cannot be improved. Hecht time and time again confuses the search for truth and the joy of discovery with bad science and bad theology. Copernicus' discovery, that the earth revolves around the sun, was a doubt that propelled science forward. That most theologians and scientists of his day disagreed with Copernicus simply points out that they were not good scientists. It offered no insight into the debate about the existence and nature of God. Time and time again Hecht identifies people whose doubts inspired them to make significant contributions to a field of science, only to focus, not on their contribution, but on their simplistic theology. Being a good scientist does not make someone a good theologian. Darwin never suggested that his theory of evolution was a theological statement. To do so is to practice both bad theology and bad science. John Stuart Mills made significant contributions to social science and economics, but by his own admission was pretty much ignorant about matters of theology. To quote him concerning his understanding of God and religion is like trying to understand quantum mechanics through the eyes of the pope. Just because the pope doesn't understand quantum mechanics does not mean it is not important or true. Marx, Freud, Paine, Twain, Russell, and many others quoted by Hecht all made significant contributions to our world, but none were theologians. As an historian, Hecht is a gifted researcher. As a theologian, her book is to the study of belief in God, what the Flat Earth Society is to the study of the universe. Her understanding of the word "myth" is very elementary and reveals a high level of ignorance concerning its use in theological discourse. Her understanding of "faith" is simplistic to the point of being ridiculous. History, to be sure, is unfortunately filled with many examples of both bad science, bad sociology, and bad theology. In an effort to discredit belief in God, she contrasts the best scientists and the worst theologians. Hecht made no mention of two of the greatest "doubters" of the 20th Century. Both were led by their doubts to a profound faith. Albert Schweitzer was a gifted, theologian, philosopher, musicologist, medical missionary, and Nobel laureate. His book, The Quest of the Historical Jesus (1906), remains a classic in theological discourse. Another leading 20th Century doubter, C.S. Lewis, a professor of medieval and Renaissance English literature at the University of Cambridge, spent years as an apologist for atheism. In his early thirties, Lewis found himself doubting his doubts, and gradually moved towards a deep and profound Christian faith. His books continue to be widely read. If you want a book to justify your atheism without having to look in any depth into the realm of theology, you will enjoy this book. If you want depth, look elsewhere.
Rating: 
Summary: A Wonderful Journey
Review: I can't speak for typos, and know who Lyndon Johnson was - that was an error that should have been caught. But I heartily recommend this work, and urge anyone interested to travel this journey through the ages with Ms. Hecht. It has been a long time since I've so looked forward to my early AM reading. I say this not just because I am a doubter, though that is surely a factor, but also because of my understanding of faith - that it only exists because doubt travels with it. If no doubt, why the need for faith? Light shines through the text liek the backlighting through the hair of a fashion model. The list of names is too long, the insights too many, but to leave the reader with the Zen insight she introduces on page 214: "Great doubt: great awakening. Little doubt: little awakening. No doubt: no awakening." Without doubt and questioning, there is no discovery. The greatest deficiency in religious thought systems is to encourage followers to believe that they have found the answers - that they need explore no more. It is the resulting lack of curiosity that leads to the angry dogmatism that leaves a depressing wake behind religious believers. Doubt is the road to awakening and part of the joy of living, breathing and thinking. Religious fanatacism is waxing now, and zealots have their eyes on the seat of government - in fact, are closer to it now than ever in the brief history of our country. Hecht's work is a none-too-timely reminder that failure to conform has leads to breakthroughs in both thought and science. May doubt live well and prosper, even as the Christian Right grabs the reigns of power.
Rating:
Summary: Mind expanding and fun
Review: I loved this book. It is pretty long, and I spent about 6 weeks slowly working my way through it, looking forward to reading a little every night. The author is a very good writer. This might have been dry material in other hands, but Jennifer Hecht has a gift for language. I went to her web site and discovered she is also a poet. I had no idea that there were so many doubters in so many
cultures over the last several thousand years. She starts
about 500BC and discusses the ancient Indians, Greeks, Chinese,
Japanese, continues through to the Moslems and Europeans of the
middle ages and all the way to current day Europeans and
Americans. It is interesting that the works of many of the great doubters
have been destroyed by the religious groups that held political
power in their day. We only know about many of them by the
books that criticized them, which represented the views of the
prevailing religious establishment and were naturally allowed
to survive. We know of the doubters during the Inquisition by
the records of the Inquisition itself, as they were trying and
often torturing these people. The actual writing of the
doubters of that time have been lost or destroyed. The book taught me a lot. It gave me more than just a history
of doubt. It gave me a brief history of the growth and
evolution of philosophy in many major world cultures.
Rating:
Summary: Doubt Is A Stone You Can Stand On.
Review: I've just stumbled upon this book by accident, and it is an astute and astuonding overview of *the* most important motive force in human adaptation to actuality that I've yet come across.
It's a book I wish I would have written, had I not been too lazy, preoccupied and too bloody busy with mundane things to. This is a Grand Synthesis in the best sense, performed with an historian's acuity and a poet's sensibility. This is the sort of thing you'll like, if you're the sort of person who likes this sort of thing. Read it, it's rather good.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful
Review: Ms. Hecht takes on a very complex subject, and manages to handle,with poise & dignity, a debate that has raged since the dawn of written time.
She has shown me how 'doubt' like a religion, comes in many flavors. Its history is just as long and filled with its own share of martyrs and saints. All the while, Ms. Hecht artfully clued me into a need for that which is not wholly understood.
While not exactly a page turner, I found myself wanting to read often but in small 'bites', I found this book to be deeply informative without feeling like a textbook. The subject matter is unavoidably deep, but is written as it should be read. With patience and clarity.
Rating:
Summary: Great Resource - Reference Book
Review: This book has given me greater strength to stand tall as a Doubter. Living in the Deep South, it is hard to move in circles, much less be accepted, when a Doubter. I am grateful to have found Ms. Hecht's book.
Numerous times I have come back to "Doubt" in order to finish or flesh out an idea for a paper in my philosophy or ethics class. The book has also been a springboard for diving into other titles in the subject. I look forward to reading it again.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating and Amazing!
Review: This book is a must-read! My sister gave it to me and now I'm giving it to several people for Christmas. I couldn't put it down! I've always been interested in religious doubters, but this book changed the whole way I think about the subject. The book covers famous philosophers' doubt and also the doubt of a lot of ordinary men and women, like victims of the Inquisition, or less-known people in the Bible. There are also a lot of people in the book who are famous for something else now but were known for their doubt when they were alive, like Mark Twain, Thomas Edison, Emily Dickinson, Thomas Paine, and Madame Curie. Jefferson's thoughts on doubt were astonishing to me. Like Howard Zinn says on the cover, she brings all the people in the book to life in a way that really engages the reader. It's one surprising, thought-provoking story after the next and adds up to an alternative history of the world that made much more sense from my point of view. Brilliant, inspiring, and a great read!
Rating:
Summary: teriffic!
Review: This is a terrific book, whether for traditional believers or doubters. It shows that, despite the extreme polarization around matters of faith and belief, we're actually not in some dualism. Instead we're on a continuum of belief/faith and the book validates those who secretly or silently harbor doubts. Heart and mind, reason and belief must ultimately be reconciled inside each one of us or we have a shallow, untested faith. The world is a hostile place for doubters or those with unconventional beliefs/faith. In public religious discourse these days, people get publicly shamed or humiliated for not having capital 'F' Faith, meaning a publicly identifiable faith. But we all have to face these life questions and best to do it having read a book explicating the doubting side of the equation. I agree with Hecht that doubt (doubting, questioning, and discerning) helps us arrive at our own truth and own understanding (not some version of received wisdom). This is foundational to a life well lived.
Rating:
Summary: Your Uncle Is A Monkey and So Is Mine
Review: This study of "Doubt," the venerable thought system that places logic and reason above superstition and ignorance, is timely, important, inclusive and necessary. Indeed, our great American experiment in democracy that was initiated by those who were, at the least, mostly tolerant seems to be tottering on a precipice of faith based bigotry so insidious that the core at the very center of the idea of freedom could actually be in jeopardy. Theocratic impulses from the right have recently been expressing themselves openly and blatantly through many talented and articulate, seemingly sensible talk radio hosts as never before. Conservative bastions of thought police politicos surely have a increasingly powerful stranglehold on our culture or rather our culturally deprived society as never before. Religious dogma from obviously discredited institutionalized groups constituting the "major" world religions has nevertheless not so amazingly fought its way into the minds of men who in our modern world would otherwise be confronted directly with the absurdity of life itself as demonstrated by scientific inquiry.
The present historically embryonic combination of politically and economically motivated mindset manipulators and a new media menacing in its pervasiveness threatens the secular humanist tradition in a manner more ominous than the inquisition itself as its electronic reach is without parallel. To read the most recent reports regarding the reinvigorated dispute between the efficacy of the Book of Genesis and the Darwinian theory of Evolution, as though they were in the some meaningful way of equally tenable merit is horrifying. Is this where we as a nation ought to be? Is the Scopes monkey trial chapter 2 on the horizon?!
Egad mama! Jennifer Michael Hecht's treatment of a major theme that runs throughout recorded history makes it clear that we as a species, though in part capable of magnificent creativity along with technical and artistic expression and achievement is in truth the reality of an extremely small percentage of those born human.
The great mass of mankind, Hecht demonstrates, have always been not only subject to the quiet desperation inherent in a squalid survival effort but always as well to the cynical machinations of powerful and ruthless leaders adept at maximizing the hold of superstitious fantasy on their constituents.
As Spinoza suggested, Hecht reminds us, our human ability to comprehend the nature of what a God might be is as inadequate as an earthworm's capability of analyzing Shakespeare. And yet we have our Falwells, the revered Reverend Graham, the great healer, Oral Roberts, the sanctimonious Pat Robertson, et. al. and so on.
As a doubter I found this treatise exhilarating. Why must we hold back when announcing the obvious? Why not call a spade a spade? Religious faith is a sign of ignorance and fear. Nothing more. Religions are a fraud and an insult to our intelligence. Nothing less. They have been the proudly announced cause of death for millions. Its time that doubt takes its proper place in our world. Let's be sensible. Let's be reasonable. Doubt based initiatives should be on the move.
Rating:
Summary: A WONDERFUL AND IMPORTANT BOOK
Review: While some people see it as negative and unproductive, doubt does lots of work. Doubt toils in the fields of philosophy, science, politics and the arts and does its most mysterious work in the field of theology by inspiring new religions: Doubt fathers devotion. This is one of many lessons we learn in "Doubt, A History: The Great Doubters and Their Legacy of Innovation from Socrates and Jesus to Thomas Jefferson and Emily Dickinson," by Jennifer Michael Hecht, historian, professor and award-winning poet.
We also learn that doubt is older than most faiths, that it includes many categories, schools and practices, and that doubt has a pantheon of heroes, who still to speak to us across the ages. And who would question the importance of studying faith and doubt - you can't grasp one without the other - in this post 9/11 world? "Since I began writing this book, well before September 2001, the significance of its subject has redoubled," Hecht writes in the concluding chapter. "The book is now offered as a way to contextualize the struggle over religion and secularism that is at the heart of the crisis." In short, the book is not only fascinating, it's also timely and important.
Hecht begins her account by pinpointing the origin of faith and doubt in one simple but profound sentence: "We live in a meaning-rupture because we are human and the universe is not." Hecht calls this, "The Great Schism," and it causes us staggering problems because we have an almost "violent" desire for knowledge and control. Enter a host of philosophical and theological geniuses to help us cope with the cruel facts of life: that natural forces can wipe out a lifetime of dreams in an instant; that the vast, empty spaces of the universe fill some people with dread; that happiness is elusive; that morality is fragile; and that death is mysterious, terrifying and certain.
Hecht explains that some prophets and thinkers try to heal the schism by writing a human meaning back into the universe; this results in a story of God or gods, who care about our welfare. Other religious innovators have gone the other way, urging us to steep our souls in the cool indifference of those vast and silent spaces; this results in the great non-theological belief systems of the East: Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. Philosopher-scientists have taken a third path: They believe reason can solve the meaning-rupture by exposing and explaining everything. And "graceful-life" philosophers open a wider way forward: They say awe and wonder give the best approach to life - learn what you can, know your limits, and don't fear death because it's not something you'll experience anyway, or to paraphrase Epicurus: Where I am, death is not; where death is, I am not.
And lest we think otherwise, Hecht reminds us that billions of moral and principled people have lived without recourse to a personal God or hopes of eternal salvation, and they didn't degenerate into beasts or go mad with fear and uncertainty. In fact, many of them have taught us courage as they performed the heavy lifting for cultural advancement.
It is perhaps an unstated thesis of Hecht's book that as our communication-saturated, Web-wired world shrinks, we reach greater levels relativism, pluralism and diversity, which is to say doubt, more than ever, is forcing itself on us whether we like it or not. So we all have a stake in understanding the intricacies of doubt and why our free society frightens other cultures and their time-tested, doubt-denying beliefs. Our praise of freedom and equality ring false and our commitment to diversity remains shallow if we don't grasp the ongoing importance of doubt. Moreover, one of the best weapons in the war on terror is improved intelligence, not the kind you get from agents in the field or experts in Washington, but the kind you get from quiet study in the privacy of your own home.
Have a little faith in doubt and read this wonderful book.
A more complete review of this book can be found at www.fobes.net
|
