Irreligion, John Allen Paulos
Irreligion, John Allen Paulos
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Irreligion
A Mathematician Explains Why the Arguments for God Just Don't Add Up

Author: John Allen Paulos

Narrator: Dick Hill

Unabridged: 4 hr 11 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 02/15/2008


Synopsis

A lifelong unbeliever finds no reason to change his mind.

Are there any logical reasons to believe in God? Mathematician and bestselling author John Allen Paulos thinks not. In Irreligion he presents the case for his own worldview, organizing his book into twelve chapters that refute the twelve arguments most often put forward for believing in God's existence. The latter arguments, Paulos relates in his characteristically lighthearted style, "range from what might be called golden oldies to those with a more contemporary beat. On the playlist are the first-cause argument, the argument from design, the ontological argument, arguments from faith and biblical codes, the argument from the anthropic principle, the moral universality argument, and others." Interspersed among his twelve counterarguments are remarks on a variety of irreligious themes, ranging from the nature of miracles and creationist probability to cognitive illusions and prudential wagers. Special attention is paid to topics, arguments, and questions that spring from his incredulity "not only about religion but also about others' credulity."

About John Allen Paulos

John Allen Paulos is an author, popular public speaker, and monthly columnist for ABCNews.com and the Guardian. A professor of math at Temple University in Philadelphia, he earned his Ph.D. in the subject from the University of Wisconsin.

His books include the New York Times bestseller Innumeracy; A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper; Once Upon a Number, a Los Angeles Times Best Book of 1998; and A Mathematician Plays the Stock Market. He has also written scholarly papers on probability, logic, and the philosophy of science as well as book reviews and articles in such publications as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Nation, Discover, the American Scholar, and the London Review of Books.

Paulos has appeared frequently on radio and television, including a four-part BBC adaptation of A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper and appearances on the Lehrer News Hour, 20/20, Larry King Live, and Late Show with David Letterman. In 2002 he received the University Creativity Award, and in 2003 the American Association for the Advancement of Science Award for promoting public understanding of science.


Reviews

Goodreads review by D. on October 03, 2009

Written by a mathematician who went out of his way to refrain altogether from using formulas and equations and stick strictly to prose, this charming book is a humble refutation of a collection of the most common arguments in favor of the existence of god. Paulos goes through these arguments one aft......more

Goodreads review by Eric on April 28, 2011

I've been through this one two and a half times and still haven't figured out for whom this book was written. This book takes a few of the classic arguments for the existence of God and refutes them. He refutes them effectively but in the standard manner. Your average atheist or agnostic already kno......more

Goodreads review by Raja99 on September 26, 2008

Why I read this book: I saw a mention of it online, either on a website or Amazon. As an atheist married to a mathematics major, I was curious to see Paulos's take. This was a good book for me to read on the airplane; it was (mostly) interesting, but not too challenging. (As I get older, I find that......more

Goodreads review by Adam on February 05, 2008

If Dawkins or Dennett are a little too hardcore for you, Paulos might be the one to truly deflect the mainstream meme that has placed the poorly thought out label of 'fundamentalist atheism' on this movement. He's thorough in his debunking of 'God Exist' arguments without being arrogant. For those w......more

Goodreads review by Dale on May 23, 2009

Paulos playfully takes on 12 alleged 'proofs' of the existence of a deity - proofs that range from the subtly fallacious to the downright silly. The thing I liked most about the book was that Paulos summarized most of the proofs in syllogistic form, to help expose the flaws in the proofs. He cites a......more