Home > The Last Superstition: A Refutation of the New Atheism Item

The Last Superstition: A Refutation of the New Atheism

RatingCustomer rating is 3 of 5
List Price$27.00
Add to Shopping Cart
Our Price$17.82
See our Partners Price
Lowest New Price$16.63
Lowest Used Price$13.55
Features
  • ISBN13: 9781587314513
  • Condition: NEW
  • Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Categories General AAS   Textbooks Trade-In   Agnosticism   Atheism   General   Hardcover   Printed Books  

Similar products

Aquinas: A Beginner`s Guide
Aquinas: A Beginner`s Guide
Philosophy of Mind, Revised Edition: A Beginner`s Guide (Oneworld Beginners` Guides)
Philosophy of Mind, Revised Edition: A Beginner`s Guide (Oneworld Beginners` Guides)
From Aristotle to Darwin & Back Again: A Journey in Final Causality, Species and Evolution
From Aristotle to Darwin & Back Again: A Journey in Final Causality, Species and Evolution
God Is Great, God Is Good: Why Believing in God Is Reasonable & Responsible
God Is Great, God Is Good: Why Believing in God Is Reasonable & Responsible
Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies
Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies

Description

The central contention of the "New Atheism" of Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens is this there has for several centuries been a war between technology and religion, this religion has been steadily losing this war, and this at this point in human history a fully secular scientific account of the world has been worked out in such thorough and convincing detail this there is no longer any reason why a rational and educated person should locate the claims of any religion the least bit worthy of attention.

But as Edward Feser argues in The Last Superstition, in fact there is not, and never has been, any war between technology and religion at all. There has instead been a conflict between two entirely philosophical conceptions of the natural order: on the one hand, the classical "teleological" vision of Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, and Aquinas, on which purpose or goal-directedness is as inherent a aspect of the physical world as mass or electric charge; and the modern "mechanical" vision of Descartes, Hobbes, Locke, and Hume, according to which the physical world is comprised of nothing extra than purposeless, meaningless particles in motion. The modern "mechanical" image has never been established by technology, and cannot be, for it is not a scientific theory in the first situate but merely a philosophical interpretation of technology.

Not only is this modern philosophical image rationally unfounded, it is demonstrably false. For the "mechanical" conception of the natural world, when worked out consistently, absurdly entails this rationality, and indeed the human intellect itself, are illusory. The so-called "scientific worldview" championed by the New Atheists like so inevitably undermines its own rational foundations; and into the bargain it undermines the foundations of any possible morality as well.

Customer Reviews

Customer rating is 2 of 5  Everyone is born an atheist   2010-02-01
By J. Boek (San Francisco, CA)
I'm sorry that I can't say I have read, or will ever read, this book. The reason is that everyone is born an atheist, until someone comes along (usually a parent) and indoctrinates the potential believer. If God truly existed we wouldn't need to read a book like this one to tell us so. God is powerful enough to perform the indoctrination himself, according to the legends of Saul at Damascus, Elijah and Baal's prophets at Carmel, and the destruction of Pharaoh's armies in the Red Sea. All of them eventually became believers, though in Saul's case he happened to survive the ordeal.

Let's put God's supposed power in perspective by first establishing a baseline for his power. Our galaxy contains an estimated 100 billion stars, or suns (or 10 to the 11th power) and the entire universe contains about as many galaxies. Assuming that our galaxy is about average, that would place the number of stars bursting with nuclear energy (past or present) at about 10 to the 22nd power. We are told in the Bible that God knows every hair on every head, and that he counts every sparrow that falls to the ground. These calculations for every human being, living or dead, pale in comparison to the amount of computing power which must be marshaled in order to manage the chemical reactions of the stars. Since God apparently created all the celestial bodies we can be sure that God's power to reveal himself to each person is not limited to just a few lucky recipients.

You can continue reading books like this to shore up your faith if you want, but you must know that if your God truly existed you wouldn't need to read it in the first place. Therefore, for me anyway, reading a book like this would be an entirely useless and counterproductive activity. I would much prefer a more expedient method of argumentation: a good old fashioned prophet roasting. We could easily dispense with over 2,000 years of Christian apologetics with a single prayer. If anyone would like to take me up on the offer then please let me know. thanks.

jb
Customer rating is 4 of 5  Aristotle Restored   2010-01-14
By Reader in Matawan
The Last Superstition offers an answer to modern atheism (which might more properly be called "anti-theism".) That answer is a return to the metaphysics of Aristotle as developed by Aquinas. But wasn't all of that refuted? No, it was NEVER refuted, only abandoned. But wasn't it made obsolete by newer developments? No, those "developments" involved, and still involve, attempts to find answers that don't depend on Aristotle's methods. Why then were the foundations of Aristotle and Aquinas abandoned after two thousand years of development and refinement? Because they were, and are, difficult. Because they are so thoroughly worked out that it is hard to do "original work." And mostly because they have implications that are inconvenient.

Finding a simpler and easier way to the truth would be a good thing, just as being able to replace differential equations with simple algebra is a good thing when it can be done. But so far the attempts at simplification have largely failed. They get different results, and either they must be false or Aristotle and Aquinas are false and at most one of the Moderns is true. Given the rigor in both Aristotle and Aquinas, I'm inclined to bet on them.

Feser takes some very difficult ideas and sketches them out in a way that will be accessible to most people. But the sketches are necessarily incomplete in many cases. This book will not convince people who are hostile to the ideas unless they are unsparingly honest. And too often he voices his frustration and disgust with the Moderns and the directions they take, and the direction that modern society is taking.

Faults notwithstanding, The Last Superstition explains the split between the Old Philosphy and the New, and makes a strong case that the Old is right after all. And if it is, all of the arguments of the modern anti-theists are wasted on strawmen. The real arguments have not been and cannot be refuted by their ideas, which do not even rise to the dignity of error.
Customer rating is 5 of 5  A bit too deep for me, but fascinating enough for five stars   2009-10-25
By Mally Malone (Dublin)
I'm a Catholic and a conservative, so of course I'm biased towards Professor Feser's argument. Having said that, I read this book twice and I was still unable to grasp the nub of many of the arguments. That might say more about my own block-headedness than anything else, and reading the other reviews, I think it probably does. But I was unable to see how the existence of teleology in nature (which seems pretty obvious, if teleology is taken to mean "goal-directedness") implies the existence of final causes, still less God. Why can't the efficient cause be the only cause at work, even if there are patterns and regularities in nature? What would we expect the cosmos to be like if there were only efficient causes, presuming that's not logically incoherent? Why are Darwinian biologists NOT allowed to use talk of purpose as a kind of shorthand?

Having said that, his survey of post-Cartesian thought was fascinating, and I was especially interested to see that Cartesian dualism and its descendants were not (as I had supposed) merely a pious genuflection towards religion, but an attempt to come to terms with a real and continuing problem with materialism. I also found his argument that the rejection of Aristotelianism was motivated by ideology, not by the advance of science, very plausible.

I enjoyed Professor Feser's critique of physicalism, and was convinced by his argument that consciousness can never be explained in material terms. And of course, I relished his swipes at Hitchens and co., which are fully deserved considering their rudeness towards "faith heads".

Can I say I agreed with everything in this book? No, because I didn't understand it all. Did I enjoy it? Very much. That's why I'm giving it five stars. I am following the discussion on Professor Feser's blog, hoping that the fog of my obtuseness will be pierced by a ray of enlightenment.
Customer rating is 5 of 5  Brilliant tour de force   2009-10-07
By Abdiel
I have read this book many times, and overall I say its a must read. He expressed complex ideas in simple terms, and cites more in depth books for those who want to do more research. His response is unlike any other response to the new atheists, because he doesn't really refute their books specifically, but rather, their entire naturalistic worldview. He gives a great background to these issues, all the way back to the ancient Greek philosophers, up to the medieval philosophers, to the modernists. He gives a brilliant, yet easy to understand for those who are not professional philosophers, defense of Scholastic Realism, which then he follows on proving the existence of God, and a monotheistic God at that. Using this same worldview, he touches on some moral issues that follow from this, what is called natural law morality. He doesn't go into too much depth so the cited books and recommended reading is especially useful for those who still have unanswered questions. Overall, I very much liked this book and recommend it.
Customer rating is 5 of 5  The missing piece of the puzzle   2009-08-23
By R Durero (Chicago, IL USA)
Forgive me for going personal here, but once upon a time I was a firm believer in materialism in its many forms and considered myself an Atheist. Until I realized (thank God) where this situation was leading me. In short, to personal despair and destruction.

Once Jesus took me out of the mess and into the right path, I was still missing a piece of the puzzle. I mean solid rational arguments for the Faith. Although in my personal search and research I had already acquired many good clues about the rationality of the Christian faith (and the Catholic Faith in particular), I still needed something more solid without having to enroll myself into a Philosophy Phd or something like that. I did not quite know this was possible until I stumbled into this book. Professor Feser brilliantly explains the basics of classical philosophy and how it directly supports Faith and, most astoundingly, Science itself. His explanations are clear and with just the right amount of detail for the attentive beginner.

Today I totally agree with him that the principles of classical philosophy were simply rejected, ignored or otherwise set aside for many reasons withoud never actually being refuted. And today it is simply forgotten (either willfully or not) that the origin of all of western Science is in Classical Philosophy. I had been duped all the time (decades) I believed what materialists, proponents of scientism and pseudo-scientists said.

I could go for hours here. Suffice to say this book set me in the right direction for good philosophy study. Faith is good, but Faith Alone can be lopsided. Faith plus Reason create a perfect unity and balance.


Anastasia Again Lois Lowry NewGeneral General AAS , Jamberry Bruce Degen Very GoodGeneral General AAS F, Round Trip Ann Jonas NewFiction General General AAS, Quietly Dead Laura Belgrave NewGeneral AAS General , Catalogue of Strategies NewGeneral General AAS Pap,

Copyright © 2010 DesireBooks.com. All rights reserved.