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rabbithero's review
4.0
Insightful and interesting, as well as sweeping in scope. My only complaint is that Hecht sort of drops the ball towards the end. Doubt is the questioning of the established view, and when, in modern day, the established view is doubt, it seemed to me appropo to look at faith as doubt.
But that's just me.
But that's just me.
crimpinglife's review
2.0
This is a dense book with an interesting proposition: Doubt (of the religious variety) is nothing to be ashamed of; instead it [Doubt] has given rise to a variety of thought-provoking questions about the nature of our reality across various cultures and systems of thought. Hecht, definitely tries to give a comprehensive overview about the types of skepticism that has occurred in certain cultures. I will also add that the book is decently written.
The history, especially that concerning Islam, though leaves much to be desired. That being said, I have learned a bit more about non-deistic/non-theistic religions from this book but considering the shoddy history that was provided for Islam, I'm not sure I necessarily trust the account provided for other religions. Will have to explore more for sure and for that nudge, I am grateful to Hecht and to this book.
The history, especially that concerning Islam, though leaves much to be desired. That being said, I have learned a bit more about non-deistic/non-theistic religions from this book but considering the shoddy history that was provided for Islam, I'm not sure I necessarily trust the account provided for other religions. Will have to explore more for sure and for that nudge, I am grateful to Hecht and to this book.
darwin8u's review
5.0
“The history of doubt is not only a history of the denial of God; it is also a history of those who have grappled with the religious questions and found the possibility of other answers.”
― Jennifer Michael Hecht, Doubt: A History
Hecht's historical survey of doubt is a lot of things and seems to do them all very well. It is a defense of doubt, a survey of doubt, a biography of doubters, a family tree of doubt's relatives. It looks at doubt both from within and external to belief. It examines the motives and believers and gives each its appropriate doubting due.
I found the book to be highly readable. Strange to say, it was almost TOO readable. I felt myself slipping through the pages almost too fast. It has given me a whole new group of thinkers and philosophers to examine. I was very familiar with many of the doubters in Western and Classical traditions, but Hecht gave me a whole new group of Eastern, Jewish and Muslim doubters to get to know. Plus, even with those nonbelievers & skeptics I was familiar with (Lucretius, Montaigne, Spinoza, Cicero, Epicurus, Pliny, Gibbon, Paine, Jefferson, Bruno, etc.) she gave me whole new approaches and windows to see them through.
Finally, Hecht also found an appropriate way to thread the Book of Job writer, Jesus, Buddha, Qohelet (wrote Ecclesiastes), etc., into the framework of doubt. I think the book would have been crippled without it. Finally, she didn't avoid the negative, state-sponsored doubt period (Fascism, Communism) of the 20th century. Not all doubters do good things. Anyway, it was worth the money and the time for sure and will be re-read in the future.
― Jennifer Michael Hecht, Doubt: A History
Hecht's historical survey of doubt is a lot of things and seems to do them all very well. It is a defense of doubt, a survey of doubt, a biography of doubters, a family tree of doubt's relatives. It looks at doubt both from within and external to belief. It examines the motives and believers and gives each its appropriate doubting due.
I found the book to be highly readable. Strange to say, it was almost TOO readable. I felt myself slipping through the pages almost too fast. It has given me a whole new group of thinkers and philosophers to examine. I was very familiar with many of the doubters in Western and Classical traditions, but Hecht gave me a whole new group of Eastern, Jewish and Muslim doubters to get to know. Plus, even with those nonbelievers & skeptics I was familiar with (Lucretius, Montaigne, Spinoza, Cicero, Epicurus, Pliny, Gibbon, Paine, Jefferson, Bruno, etc.) she gave me whole new approaches and windows to see them through.
Finally, Hecht also found an appropriate way to thread the Book of Job writer, Jesus, Buddha, Qohelet (wrote Ecclesiastes), etc., into the framework of doubt. I think the book would have been crippled without it. Finally, she didn't avoid the negative, state-sponsored doubt period (Fascism, Communism) of the 20th century. Not all doubters do good things. Anyway, it was worth the money and the time for sure and will be re-read in the future.
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