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Doubt: A History: The Great Doubters and…
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Doubt: A History: The Great Doubters and Their Legacy of Innovation from Socrates and Jesus to Thomas Jefferson and Emily Dickinson (original 2003; edition 2004)

by Jennifer Michael Hecht

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
1,0451419,428 (4.25)77
Every year on my visit to Taipei I buy a book of philosophy at the Eslite bookstore - as a kind of homage to how wonderful their selection of philosophy titles is (even if they no longer stock French and German originals along with Chinese and English translations). I was considering Habermas' latest collection of pieces from Verso, as well as a Isaiah Berlin on Romanticism, but then decided on this - just because I thought it would look good on my bookshelf. I have to say I am utterly charmed by the introduction and first chapter. Big ideas, lightly put across. Superb writing.Have to say I hate the subtitle though. Bad addition by agent or published. Doubt: a History would have been just fine.
2 vote Katong | Apr 16, 2012 |
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Hecht's examination of how doubt has always lived alongside faith since the earliest times is a fascinating work of scholarship. She takes us from the beginnings of philosophy which grew alongside the earliest recorded organised religions, where the act of questioning and doubting was fundamental to the process of philosophy. This unfaith runs like a bright silver thread through history, although many times religion has sought to obscure the fact and expunge it from the records, or recast the proponents of doubt in a way that portrays them as faithful.


She takes us forward from the Greeks and through Rome, taking in the Jewish tradition - both ancient and medieval - to Gnosticism and throughout the growth of Christianity, branching on the way to bring in the beliefs of Asia and how they had approaches that differed but often embraced doubt far ore strongly than the tradition in the West.


She shows us how the explosion of unbelief that was the Enlightenment was built partly on this questioning, and the gradual acceptance that a lack of faith was not only correct and acceptable amongst the intellectual elite but also held no dangers for the masses. Finally, she shows how the meeting of Western Enlightenment and Eastern enlightenment in the 19th and 20th centuries brought yet more strength to those who doubt, and recaps how the great thinkers and writers who have pushed against or broken outside of the bounds of religion have built upon each other, and managed to find the kernels of wisdom in earlier thinkers time and again, despite the best efforts to obscure or marginalise those dangerous thought.


A wonderful book which has given me far too many new threads to chase down and consume. ( )
  Pezski | Jun 21, 2020 |
As long as gods have existed there have been people that doubt their existence. This is true for all cultures in which gods have thrived. Most of the reasons for the existence of a god or godlike being boil down to the fact that people didn’t know a lot about the natural world. Lightning and thunderclaps, tornadoes and hurricanes, earthquakes and solar eclipses; many of the natural phenomena that we understand or take for granted were feared by the ancients. Of course, since gods are argued to be human creations, they took on human shapes and human emotions.

Take the Greek Pantheon for instance. All of the gods and goddesses are frivolous and capricious, changing their support of whomever they please on a whim. Zeus sleeps around, Hera is noted for being terribly jealous, none of the gods in that pantheon take any interests in human affairs. They are childish and indolent, sitting around being immortal. Why should we worship such gods? This is what a lot of doubters argued. This point is the same for many of the texts that survived.

Through this wide swath of history, we are treated to some philosophy and how they dealt with the doubt that lives in men’s hearts. Thus, this book is a history of both belief and doubt, focusing mainly on the doubt. Jennifer Michael Hecht spares no tenet or creed to get to the bottom of the opposite point of view. The Greeks are where we start, followed by the Ancient Jews, the peoples of Asia, Rome, and so on until the first century. Then we start to get heated up with the Martyrs of Doubt, victims of the Inquisition and so on.

The really interesting part comes along with the innovations of Jesus. How did he innovate belief and doubt? Well, he turned religion into something that lacked reason I guess you could say. All you needed was to believe, even if it made no sense or had any basis in reality. Faith became everything. Remember the story of “Doubting Thomas?” I mean, I would probably want some kind of evidence that someone rose from the dead as well. Even those weren’t just the thoughts and teachings of Jesus though. Early Christianity was influenced really heavily by Paul of Tarsus, Augustine of Hippo and several other historical figures.

So anyway, this book is really captivating and a joy to read. Reading about historical atheists and the arguments they gave demonstrate that there is really nothing new under the sun. In the same vein, all of the arguments for the existence of God are the same as well. It mostly points to the complexity of ‘creation’ and how it couldn’t possibly have come about by chance. I still say you need proof for that sort of thing. Hearsay and gossip aren’t enough. ( )
  Floyd3345 | Jun 15, 2019 |
A marvelous, dense, but readable history of religious doubt, from the earliest writings to the 21st century. I've been working on this for about 10 months, carrying it around on my Kindle and inching along, giving me plenty of time to digest between readings of other books. It's well worth the effort and has a large bibliography I plan to use frequently. Covers Greek, Roman, Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, and Muslim doubt, among others, with Buddhism, of course, beginning as a religion of non-theists. There's lengthy discussion of the various schools of doubt, as well as analysis of our America's Founding Fathers, many of whom, especially Jefferson, were doubters or downright non-believers and specifically worded the Bill of Rights to ensure that religion would never again intrude on our politics. If only.....

Given the current international situation, with fundamentalism as a core issue, I was delighted to find mention of the modern author Ibn Warraq (a pseudonym), an ex-Muslim who wrote "Why I Am Not a Muslim" and who castigates Western society for not subjecting Islam to the critical method, as Christianity and other religions have been, and instead being afraid to criticize it. Something to think about. ( )
1 vote auntmarge64 | Nov 9, 2015 |
Every year on my visit to Taipei I buy a book of philosophy at the Eslite bookstore - as a kind of homage to how wonderful their selection of philosophy titles is (even if they no longer stock French and German originals along with Chinese and English translations). I was considering Habermas' latest collection of pieces from Verso, as well as a Isaiah Berlin on Romanticism, but then decided on this - just because I thought it would look good on my bookshelf. I have to say I am utterly charmed by the introduction and first chapter. Big ideas, lightly put across. Superb writing.Have to say I hate the subtitle though. Bad addition by agent or published. Doubt: a History would have been just fine.
2 vote Katong | Apr 16, 2012 |
Finally, a very good historical exploration of the roots of doubt. The author pieces together a history of the world's most prominent freethinkers since the beginning of recorded history, and does a wonderful job with a difficult task. In addition, she is a good writer, and the prose flows smoothly. ( )
  Devil_llama | Apr 16, 2011 |
Hecht's premise is that throughout history humans have tried to endow the universe with the human ideals of justice, compassion and love and that, for more than 2000 years, there have been those who doubt not only that the universe is human-like but even that we exist at all. The book compares well to surveys of humanity by Jared Diamond, but there are more women mentioned. It seems many of the women quoted express their doubt in terms of what do we need to know and do to make our way through life while some of the men are the airier "do we even exist?" thinkers. There's a fine section on Jewish humor as the essence of doubt and also a critique of Islam that makes perfect sense. She says all religions need to be brought into the modern world, and that we can't ignore misogyny and religion infused politics just because the religion involved is Islam. Highly recommended for anyone wanting a balanced view of philosophy. ( )
2 vote Citizenjoyce | Apr 1, 2011 |
I probably should have read the reviews better on this. I was hoping it would be a broader look at the role of doubt, skepticism, and critical thinking in all aspects of history. Really, it's just an intellectual and cultural history of atheism and agnosticism that the publisher was afraid to market as such.On those terms, it's decent. I learned about a lot of more minor figures in the history of freethought that I hadn't come across before, and got quite a bit more context for the major ones I already knew about.

The main thing I had problems with was the prose. By the time I got halfway through the book I felt like I was reading the same paragraph over and over again with new names and places plugged in. It got to be a real slog to read, even though the subject matter was stuff I'm definitely interested in. On the bright side, it didn't suffer as much from the condescension, myopia, and just plain assholery that most overtly atheist books tend to indulge in these days. It was balanced, well-researched, and charitable, if a little tendentious at times.

Worth reading all-in-all, but it won't be the most enjoyable read you ever have. A good book for filling in the gaps if you're interested in the history of freethought, atheism, and heresies of all sorts. ( )
  jddunn | Nov 8, 2010 |
Just like the title says -- this is a history of skepticism about received religion, from the Greeks to the current day. The book begins with an extensive discussion of Greek and Roman philosophy, almost of all of which was skeptical to one degree or another. It proceeds through the coming of Christianity, the middle ages, the Renaissance, the age of enlightenment, the 19th century, and on the present day. The author ascribes much of the scientific progress of earlier ages to those who were to one degree or another doubters, which seems a fair judgement. All in all, a most interesting book, which presents an unusual and enlightening perspective on the intellectual history of our culture. ( )
  annbury | Nov 7, 2010 |
Jennifer Michael Hecht presents a comprehensive look at the world history of religious doubt, particularly doubt about the nature and existence of gods. Which, in a way, also makes it a history of religion and philosophy, from an enlightening alternate point of view. I found it thoroughly compelling, full of fascinating information, intelligent insights, and useful perspectives. As an ardent unbeliever myself, I also felt genuine delight at discovering so many thinkers, from so many different times, places, and traditions, whose words and ideas resonate so well with my own thoughts.

It's worth pointing out, though, that although the book is extremely positive about doubt, it is definitely not an anti-religious screed. It deals with doubt that exists within religious traditions as well as doubt that attacks them, and even includes atheistic religions, such as Theravada Buddhism, under its doubters' umbrella. And even as I've come away from my reading feeling a bit of Atheist Pride, I also feel I've gained a better understanding of, and even a greater sympathy for, many aspects of religion.

I'm giving this one the coveted five stars. I won't say that it's flawless, and it did take me a while to get through it, but, man, what a remarkable read! ( )
3 vote bragan | Oct 9, 2010 |
A good read, but more importantly, a really solid education; Not simply in terms of the history of doubters, but the history of, well, thought. Of philosophy. For someone who didn't quite get the education he might have liked, this book is a great tour through different ways of thinking about the world, freed from the gauze and blur of supernaturalism. ( )
2 vote Qshio | Jul 26, 2009 |
I am surprised no on LibraryThing owns the book, much less reviewed it. This is a fine history doubt about the supernatural. It is competently written, and explores a wealth of material, including a few figures from the "believers" camp who offered unexpected contributions to the growing literature of doubt. ( )
1 vote wirkman | May 23, 2008 |
Doubt has as rich and deep of a history as belief does. It has its heroes and heroines, as well as its demons. People have been persecuted, prosecuted, and executed for their doubts as much as for their beliefs. After all, doubt is just a belief in something else.

This book chronicles the lives and musings of great doubters from 600 BCE to the present day. It is thick (literally and figuratively) with material, and the density makes it impossible to fully comprehend. I think I remember about one-eighth of the information given.

Citations, notes, bibliographies, and an index are provided. The author knows the material intimately and has managed to gracefully tackle this enormous issue. This book is not for the faint-of-heart, and it took me months to read. One cannot read more than 15 to 20 pages in one sitting. It was eye-opening, informative, and intriguing. It is a great for reference to individuals and times/places, but difficult to take in. I am definitely glad that I read it, but also relieved that it is over.
4 vote Carlie | Feb 4, 2008 |
Hecht does freethinker apologists a great service here. She creates an eloquent and exhaustive account of the process of doubt through history. For the most part, the people she depicts here are skeptics, rather than cynics. Their humanistic values come from their own evaluations and struggles with objective truth, rather than a wholesale rejection based on suspicion of motives of others (although that does pop up from time to time to be sure). For as many loud and proud rebels depicted in here, there are an equal army of strugglers who can't reject what they see as true, despite the prevailing beliefs of the communities around them. It's a very lively, thought provoking book, and anyone interested in the history of ideas would probably enjoy it. Heck, even theists should read it. ( )
3 vote gregtmills | Jun 6, 2007 |
This does sound interesting.
1 vote | AlCracka | Apr 2, 2013 |
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