Atheism: A Guide for the Perplexed (Guides for the Perplexed) by Kerry Walters (PDF)

Description

This title moves beyond the polemics to present an overview of atheism that is rigorous yet accessible. Interest in atheism has surged since the ‘New Atheism’ trinity of Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, and Christopher Hitchens launched their attack on religious belief. Their militant, in-your-face style has delighted readers who are already nonbelievers and infuriated theists, and in the process made them best-selling authors. But the cost of their approach is that the current cultural and intellectual dialogue about atheism frequently generates more heat than light: acrimony replaces reasoned investigation, polemic overpowers philosophical analysis, and too often the outcome is confusion rather than truth. “Atheism: A Guide for the Perplexed” moves beyond the polemics to present an overview of atheism that is rigorous but still accessible to the educated layperson as well as the undergraduate student in philosophy and theology courses. After a preliminary investigation of what atheists mean when they use the words ‘atheism’ and ‘God’ – a much more complex investigation than one might suspect – the book explores the differences and similarities between ‘old’ and ‘new’ atheism; places atheism of either variety in context by examining the naturalistic worldview that grounds it; provides a short historical sketch of atheism; examines a number of arguments against God-belief; investigates whether an atheist worldview is consistent with ethics and a sense of purposefulness; asks is an atheist ‘spirituality’ is possible; inquires into whether the current militancy against religious belief is pertinent or a red herring; and, concludes with a few suggestions for continued dialogue between believers and nonbelievers. The goal throughout is to present a balanced, non-partisan introduction to the worldview, principles, and arguments of atheism that highlights the positions strengths as well as its weaknesses. “Continuum’s Guides for the Perplexed” are clear, concise and accessible introductions to thinkers, writers and subjects that students and readers can find especially challenging – or indeed downright bewildering. Concentrating specifically on what it is that makes the subject difficult to grasp, these books explain and explore key themes and ideas, guiding the reader towards a thorough understanding of demanding material.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐This book provides information as to what atheism IS, and what it IS NOT. It goes into more detail than one would think necessary, yet if you want to know the stances of Theists as opposed to A-Theists, this provides the necessary information. Although it is pretty well known that there are several kinds of Theism, it was interesting to find out that there are several kinds, or stengths, of atheism. This book is well researched and can be helpful to Theists, regardless of their particular form of religion, as well as to Atheists, Agnostics, and others in secular and non-belief stances.

⭐One of my favorite books.

⭐Too silly for words. Like getting asking the Rev Pat Robertson to write about the fraud of televangelists. Dropped it in the bin.

⭐I rarely write reviews but I see that there are so few reviews on this book and am motivated to comment.This book is an introduction to atheism, in general, and there are many other books out there like it, but I found this one to be the best out of the dozen ‘introductory’ books I’ve read from the ‘atheist shelf.’ Kerry Walters writes at a depth that is uncommon to see in a lot of pop atheist books and though I find that refreshing it could turn off the ‘light’ reader, so be warned. Walters writes succinctly, carefully, with little opinion and more just trying to lay out the facts and many opinions and perspectives. His book is not geared towards atheists either, it is very non-confrontational, so it would even make a good read for someone open-minded, interested in, or new to an atheistic worldview.A couple examples:I really enjoyed his explanation of what it is like to be a believer, or theist, and then become an atheist. He explains a couple ways this can happen but his main example was the path that many of us take; feeling like we are bad for doubting, having a lot of cognitive dissonance and not being able to put reality and religion together anymore, and finally that feeling of a weight being lifted when we admit we no longer believe. Especially, that liberated feeling we experience at throwing off religion and god-belief, and how exciting that can be. For me and many others, Walters had a very intimate explanation of that and I identified with it.Second, he takes two chapters to explain the arguments for atheism and against theism or god-belief. In my opinion these two chapters were the best I’ve ever read on the topic. He sometimes gives multiple answers for issues with god belief, or attacks against atheism. I believe he gives roughly 5 different answers to the ‘fine-tuning’ argument theists use. I had never even heard of a couple of his answers to this complex but ignorant argument, and all five could be used separately!The chapters are all around the same length, making it easy to know how long it will take you to read and allowing you time to walk away. Walters tries to take an objective view, giving the best arguments both sides have, though, being an atheist, he gives the best answers possible and in my opinion makes it perfectly obvious how poor the theistic side of the debate really is. This book touches on the culture and different types of atheism as well, noting that atheism itself is only one answer to one question, and from there, the beliefs and opinions of atheists are as numerous as there are atheists.

⭐This is the ideal book for anyone who’s either come to atheism for the first time or who’s looking for a good primer. Theists and atheists alike will profit from reading it. The author is an eloquent yet lucid writer, he manages to make the subject matter far more interesting than any other introductory book to atheism I’ve read, he covers just about every important theme in atheism in a well-structured manner(beginning with the definition of atheism, different types of atheism, and on to the history of atheism, etc.), he expounds the cases for and objections to both negative and positive atheism, he reflects on the arguments and impact of the New Atheist Movement as well as the manner in which they’ve discussed religious topics(one of my favorite aspects of the book), and best of all, he’s written as balanced an account of the topic as one could reasonably expect from somebody who’s already chosen a stance(the author makes it clear early on that he is an atheist), never afraid of acknowledging a good theistic argument or objection.What I also like about this book is that he’s not at all contemptuous of opposing viewpoints(unlike a few of his New Atheist counterparts), he doesn’t seek to caricature theists in any way(he recognizes the importance of addressing their most sophisticated arguments, rather than poke fun at those who hold to their worldview the most blindly), and in perhaps the most honest and important part of the book(for me personally, at least), he discusses some of the motives behind adopting either worldview(a discussion that the New Atheists have all too often confined to theism).So, I highly recommend getting a copy of this book. I’m only half-way through and already I can tell it’s going to be one of those books that I’ll enjoy reading for a long time.

⭐Pointless. Tiresome.The comment on page 93 was especially “touching” this week. “God could exist, say, as the First Cause, devoid of any personal characteristics. In that case, God’s hiddenness would be perfectly understandable.” Trust me professor, the Islamic Taliban didn’t shoot a bullet into the face Malala Yousufzai because a first cause devoid of any personal characteristics motivated them.Kerry S. Walters considers it a “frightening, but not implausible, possibility” that the White House, Pentagon, and/or State Department were behind the 9/11 attacks.(Google it yourself.) Walters is an ordained clergyman in the Episcopal church.An ordained 9/11 conspiracy theorist. Perfect.

⭐This is indeed a very balanced introduction to atheism, without the polemics of dawkins et al. If you just want to know the main arguments and thoughts of atheism, i recommend this book. Easy to read, written for non academic readers. It really helped me to find my own position in the matter, without forcing .

⭐Super swift postage – a great item at a great price – a thoroughly recommended Amazon seller.I most certainly will use again.

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