A review by dominiquediane
A Skeptic's Faith: Why Scientific Materialism Cannot Be the Whole Truth by Charles Siegel, Charles Siegel

challenging informative fast-paced

3.0

 This book makes the impressive claim that it may change your worldview. Personally, I did not find my worldview changed very much at all by the ending of the book, as I was already in line with the author’s viewpoints from the beginning. That said, some of the points delved into within chapter four almost brought on a mini-existential crisis. So rest, assured, parts of this book will take you to some deep places of philosophical thought. 

The main point of this book is to take a fairly critical look at materialism - the belief that only matter exists and mind/spirit is a byproduct of that matter - and then provides the answer of dualism as a more plausible concept. 

While the book was a fairly interesting read, I am convinced that its final iteration could have contained more. Namely, at the very least, some sort of conclusion. The abrupt end to the text left me feeling like the ends of various points and ideas weren’t tied together very neatly at all. 

Among other topics, this book discusses computer consciousness, near-death experiences, reconciliation of science and religion, and then a thorough examination and evisceration of the “Four Horsemen of New Atheism” - Dawkins, Harris, Hitchens, and Dennett. I found this section to be the most interesting. It’s rare to see this kind of pushback from likeminded atheists. I was pleased with how Siegal handled his arguments against such prominent atheist figures. The author is far more of a skeptic than many of these men claim to be and has firmly established himself as someone who would debate such men phenomenally, following science and evidence rather than materialist (and self-contradictory) dogmas. 

A special thanks to #NetGalley and #OmoPress for providing me with an early review copy of this book.