Talk to The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason like its author wrote you back.
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What it argues
The End of Faith was written in the weeks following the September 11 attacks and published in 2004. It is Sam Harris' first book and his most urgent — a sustained argument that religious faith, understood as belief without sufficient evidence, is uniquely dangerous because it places certain conclusions beyond rational examination and can therefore motivate any act in their service. Harris' target is not only Islamic extremism but religious faith as such, including the moderate religious belief that, he argues, provides the cultural cover under which extremism thrives.
The book's argument has several layers. The epistemological layer: faith — believing things on insufficient evidence — is an irresponsible cognitive practice that, when applied to political questions, generates catastrophic results. The historical layer: the history of religious violence is not an aberration but a predictable consequence of ideologies that treat certain beliefs as literally sacred and non-negotiable. The cultural layer: the West's embarrassment about criticizing religious belief — its deference to faith as a special category exempt from the standards of evidence applied to other claims — is itself a problem that facilitates religious extremism.
What it gets right
- 1.
Faith — belief on insufficient evidence — is an epistemically irresponsible practice that, when applied to political and moral questions, produces uniquely dangerous results.
- 2.
Moderate religious belief provides cultural legitimacy to the idea that certain commitments are beyond rational examination, creating conditions in which extremism can grow.
- 3.
The history of religious violence is not a series of aberrations but a predictable consequence of ideologies that treat certain beliefs as literally sacred.
What it covers
Who wrote it
Sam Harris (born 1967) is an American neuroscientist, philosopher, and author. The End of Faith (2004), begun in the days after September 11, 2001, won the PEN Award for Nonfiction and launched the New Atheist movement in the United States. His subsequent books include Letter to a Christian Nation (2006), The Moral Landscape (2010), Free Will (2012), and Waking Up (2014). He hosts the Making Sense podcast and founded the Waking Up app. He holds a Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience from UCLA.
