The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason

( 146 )
Pick Up In Store

Pick Up in Store

Reserve and pick up in 60 minutes at your local store

Paperback (Reprint)
$11.15
BN.com price
$14.95 List Price (Save 25%)
Marketplace (New and Used)
from
$0.99
$14.95 List Price (Save 93%)
Usually ships within 1-2 business days
All (92)  
Used (75)  
New (17)  
Close
Sort by
Page 1 of 10
Showing 1 – 10 of 92 (10 pages)
$1.49
(Save 90%)
Big River Books
Seller since 2010

Feedback rating:

(1048)

Condition:

New — never opened or used in original packaging.

Like New — packaging may have been opened. A "Like New" item is suitable to give as a gift.

Very Good — may have minor signs of wear on packaging but item works perfectly and has no damage.

Good — item is in good condition but packaging may have signs of shelf wear/aging or torn packaging. All specific defects should be noted in the Comments section associated with each item.

Acceptable — item is in working order but may show signs of wear such as scratches or torn packaging. All specific defects should be noted in the Comments section associated with each item.

Used — An item that has been opened and may show signs of wear. All specific defects should be noted in the Comments section associated with each item.

Refurbished — A used item that has been renewed or updated and verified to be in proper working condition. Not necessarily completed by the original manufacturer.

Good
2005 Paperback Good Cover and pages may have some wear or writing. Binding is tight. We ship daily Monday-Friday.

Ships from: Powder Springs, GA

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • •Canadian
  • •International
  • •Standard, 48 States
  • •Standard (AK, HI)
  • •Express, 48 States
  • •Express (AK, HI)
$1.99
(Save 87%)
thriftbooks-com
Seller since 2007

Feedback rating:

(5402)

Condition: Acceptable
Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More.

Ships from: Auburn, WA

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • •Canadian
  • •International
  • •Standard, 48 States
  • •Standard (AK, HI)
  • •Express, 48 States
  • •Express (AK, HI)
$1.99
(Save 87%)
Ukazoo Books
Seller since 2006

Feedback rating:

(9951)

Condition: Good
Standard used condition.

Ships from: Baltimore, MD

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • •Canadian
  • •International
  • •Standard, 48 States
  • •Standard (AK, HI)
  • •Express, 48 States
  • •Express (AK, HI)
$1.99
(Save 87%)
OwlsBooks-TRM
Seller since 2009

Feedback rating:

(22275)

Condition: Good
Giving great service since 2004: Buy from the Best! 4,000,000 items shipped to delighted customers. We have 1,000,000 unique items ready to ship! Find your Great Buy today!

Ships from: Lakewood, WA

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • •Canadian
  • •International
  • •Standard, 48 States
  • •Standard (AK, HI)
  • •Express, 48 States
  • •Express (AK, HI)
$1.99
(Save 87%)
One Planet Books
Seller since 2009

Feedback rating:

(2182)

Condition: Good
SOME HIGHLIGHTING AND PRICE STICKER

Ships from: Columbia, MO

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • •Standard, 48 States
  • •Standard (AK, HI)
  • •Express, 48 States
  • •Express (AK, HI)
$1.99
(Save 87%)
OwlsBooks-TRM
Seller since 2009

Feedback rating:

(22275)

Condition: Good
Giving great service since 2004: Buy from the Best! 4,000,000 items shipped to delighted customers. We have 1,000,000 unique items ready to ship! Find your Great Buy today!

Ships from: Lakewood, WA

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • •Canadian
  • •International
  • •Standard, 48 States
  • •Standard (AK, HI)
  • •Express, 48 States
  • •Express (AK, HI)
$2.99
(Save 80%)
TextbooksPro
Seller since 2008

Feedback rating:

(393)

Condition: Good
Book is in overall good condition!! Cover shows some edge wear and corners are lightly worn. Pages have a minimal to moderate amount of markings. FAST SHIPPING W/USPS TRACKING!!!

Ships from: Dayton, OH

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • •Canadian
  • •International
  • •Standard, 48 States
  • •Standard (AK, HI)
  • •Express, 48 States
  • •Express (AK, HI)
$3.00
(Save 80%)
Campus_Bookstore
Seller since 2011

Feedback rating:

(242)

Condition: Good
Used - Good Minor cover wear. May contain highlighting/underlining/notes/etc. May have used stickers on cover. Ships same or next day. Expedited shipping takes 2-3 business days; ... standard shipping takes 4-14 business days. Read more Show Less

Ships from: Fayetteville, AR

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • •Standard, 48 States
  • •Standard (AK, HI)
  • •Express, 48 States
  • •Express (AK, HI)
$3.00
(Save 80%)
1 Lov Books
Seller since 2010

Feedback rating:

(2)

Condition: Good
10/10/2005 Paperback Good

Ships from: Decatur, GA

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • •Canadian
  • •International
  • •Standard, 48 States
  • •Standard (AK, HI)
  • •Express, 48 States
  • •Express (AK, HI)
$3.00
(Save 80%)
text book recycle ny
Seller since 2006

Feedback rating:

(1106)

Condition: Good
2005-10-10 Paperback Good We ship everyday and offer PRIORITY SHIPPING.

Ships from: malone, NY

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • •Canadian
  • •International
  • •Standard, 48 States
  • •Standard (AK, HI)
  • •Express, 48 States
  • •Express (AK, HI)
Page 1 of 10
Showing 1 – 10 of 92 (10 pages)
Close
Sort by
NOOK Book (eBook)
$10.16
BN.com price
$14.95 List Price (Save 32%)

Available on NOOK devices and apps

  • Nook Devices
  • NOOK
  • NOOK Color
  • NOOK Tablet
  • Tablet/Phone
  • NOOK for iPad
  • NOOK for iPhone
  • NOOK for Android
  • NOOK for Android (Tablet)
  • NOOK Kids for iPad
  • PC/Mac
  • NOOK Study
  • NOOK for PC
  • NOOK for Mac

Need a NOOK? Explore Now

More About This Book

Overview

This important and timely book delivers a startling analysis of the clash of faith and reason in today's world. Harris offers a vivid historical tour of mankind's willingness to suspend reason in favor of religious beliefs, even when those beliefs are used to justify harmful behavior and sometimes heinous crimes. He asserts that in the shadow of weapons of mass destruction, we can no longer tolerate views that pit one true god against another. Most controversially, he argues that we cannot afford moderate lip service to religion—an accommodation that only blinds us to the real perils of fundamentalism. While warning against the encroachment of organized religion into world politics, Harris also draws on new evidence from neuroscience and insights from philosophy to explore spirituality as a biological, brain-based need. He calls on us to invoke that need in taking a secular humanistic approach to solving the problems of this world.

Editorial Reviews

Natalie Angier
… The End of Faith articulates the dangers and absurdities of organized religion so fiercely and so fearlessly that I felt relieved as I read it, vindicated, almost personally understood. Sam Harris presents major religious systems like Judaism, Christianity and Islam as forms of socially sanctioned lunacy, their fundamental tenets and rituals irrational, archaic and, important when it comes to matters of humanity's long-term survival, mutually incompatible. A doctoral candidate in neuroscience at the University of California, Los Angeles, Harris writes what a sizable number of us think, but few are willing to say in contemporary America.
— The New York Times
More Reviews (1) Fewer Reviews
From The Critics
In this sometimes simplistic and misguided book, Harris calls for the end of religious faith in the modern world. Not only does such faith lack a rational base, he argues, but even the urge for religious toleration allows a too-easy acceptance of the motives of religious fundamentalists. Religious faith, according to Harris, requires its adherents to cling irrationally to mythic stories of ideal paradisiacal worlds (heaven and hell) that provide alternatives to their own everyday worlds. Moreover, innumerable acts of violence, he argues, can be attributed to a religious faith that clings uncritically to one set of dogmas or another. Very simply, religion is a form of terrorism for Harris. Predictably, he argues that a rational and scientific view-one that relies on the power of empirical evidence to support knowledge and understanding-should replace religious faith. We no longer need gods to make laws for us when we can sensibly make them for ourselves. But Harris overstates his case by misunderstanding religious faith, as when he makes the audaciously na ve statement that "mysticism is a rational enterprise; religion is not." As William James ably demonstrated, mysticism is far from a rational enterprise, while religion might often require rationality in order to function properly. On balance, Harris's book generalizes so much about both religion and reason that it is ineffectual. (June) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780393327656
  • Publisher: Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
  • Publication date: 10/10/2005
  • Edition description: Reprint
  • Pages: 352
  • Sales rank: 58,744
  • Product dimensions: 5.50 (w) x 8.20 (h) x 0.90 (d)

Meet the Author

SAM HARRIS received his degree in philosophy from Stanford University. He is now completing his doctorate in neuroscience. Visit his Web site at www.samharris.org.

Table of Contents

1 Reason in exile 11
2 The nature of belief 50
3 In the shadow of God 80
4 The problem with Islam 108
5 West of Eden 153
6 A science of good and evil 170
7 Experiments in consciousness 204
Customer Reviews
Average Rating 4
( 146 )

Rating Distribution

If you've bought this product, tell the world how you liked it.
Write a Review
See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 146 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted December 2, 2005

    'The End of Faith' offers readers a different view on life, one that will open your eyes to a view of the world that has been veiled in denial for thousands of years

    In short, 'The End of Faith' is a manuscript aimed at religion and its obovious flaws that humanity tends to overlook and/or disregard. Whether its the threat of religious tensions leading to nuclear holocaust or religion itself witholding us from getting closer to a more universal answer to life, humanity has constantly allowed religion to reign its 'necessary' wrongdoings in our world beacuse of its prejudice ways of life and greedy claims of 'the 'ONLY' answer to life.' Sam Harris has created something amazing, something epic and triumphant in the world of free-thinkers alike. I feel that this is one colossal, successful step towards TRUE freedom of religion. No longer will prejudice Christians or Cahtolics or Muslims and so forth restrain us from believing in what children are taught as blind, foolish beings who accept anything and grow under those influences. As Sam Harris says, 'Religions we consider sacred today are only sacred beacuse they were sacred yesterday.' What he means by this is that the only reason why religion is actually believeable in this modern world of ours is because day after day, generation after generation, one person's beliefs were passed down since the roots of humanity and religion. If any religion never existed in our lives or the lives of our forefathers then it can be guaranteed that if a religious belief were to suddenly be proposed in our age of society, it would quickly be dismissed as folly and ignorant. Only because we are taught such things as children or live around them throughout our lives explains why we even consider them real: because we are exposed to this fantastical, irrational state of mind when we're foolish enough to believe in such mindlessness. I am no atheist, or a Christian, or apart of any other religious cult. I believe in everything that makes sense in my mind. I DO NOT close my eyes to some beliefs and open them to others (as religion does repeatedly, only accepting scientific facts that support their beliefs while disregarding any that contradict them). I keep all senses keen to reality. I'm on a journey, like so many others, to find a peace of mind in which I can think of the day that I die and not be afraid of an eternity in hell simply for not believing in something that literally has not made one appearance on this planet, except in non-proven stories. I truly believe that humanity is simply learning another global lesson. As with racism and World Wars, among other mistakes humanity has commited, breaking from the shackles of religion and accepting all rational and fair( fair as in beliefs that don't hurt others) beliefs is another lesson we'll hopefully learn as soon as possible. Sadly, it seems that humans only learn their lesson when something horrible or significant happends. With racism it took the ignorance and prejudice beliefs of slave owners to finally, after hundreds of years, give african-americans the FAITH and strength needed to overcome the IGNORANT BELIEFS of racists. Same thing with the belief that women were lesser than men and deserved less rights. In World War II it took a nuclear explosion to Hiroshima to finally shock the faces of this world into regret and sudden realization of its errors. And now, as it seems so inevitable, the ignorant and closeminded beliefs of religious people who claim their beliefs as 'the one and only' are suffering the same mistakes that racists, those who oppose female equality, and the icons that shaped the major wars of our time endured. The only problem with this new lesson that humans are learning is that we may not survive the outcomes of such ignorant and rash ways of life.

    20 out of 20 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted November 27, 2006

    Why should we have to respect nonsense?

    When someone claims something preposterous, unsupported by fact, out of wishful thinking and/or ignorance, we don't have to respect those claims. There is no reason religious faith should be an exception, argues the author. Faith is not worthy of respect in a conversation. More importantly, Sam Harris makes the point that if we bend over backwards not to offend religious moderates, and the latter do the same not to offend religious fundamentalists (as you've noticed they inevitably do!), we're just freeing the way for the cancerous growth of fundamentalism, with the associated suicide-bombings and other fun stuff. This is an excellent book making the point that faith is positively harmful and could well spell the end of our world (think a bit about nuclear weapons in the hands of religious fanatics). The only part that left me quizzed is the chapter about mysticism and meditation: Sam Harris may be onto something, but I really am at a loss figuring out what he's talking about. Apart from that, the style of the author is crystal clear, brief, concise, admirably articulate. Make sure you check out Sam Harris's web site: it has very interesting print, audio, and video material. And buy the book and promote the cause!

    6 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted September 26, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    Thought Provoking

    This may offend those that choose to belive in tribal myths. The majority of the human race require the comfort provided by religious leaders that promise wonderful things at the end of life. This book shows that our civilization is still relatively primitive.

    5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted February 19, 2011

    The courage to speak the truth

    i used to not advertise my atheism, because I figured other's beliefs did not matter to me. after reading this book, I realized it is my duty to the human race to help expose the harm of organized religion in the modern world. This book should be required reading for all people, especially teens before their brainwashing is complete.

    4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted May 3, 2009

    I Also Recommend:

    A Much Needed Topic of Discussion is Now Discussed

    Sam Harris's book definitely shows that he has well thought out what to say on the topic of religion. He explains, in very descriptive terms, how religious fundamentalism, whether it's Chrisianity, Judaism or Islam, has everything to do with controlling people, as opposed to loving them. While I do disaree with him saying that all religious moderates are a threat (even though I think they're wrong as well) he provides a decent argument on why he thinks that way. I would absolutely recommend this book to anybody who is disheartened by religion's need to control people's everyday lives, including their own.

    4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted January 6, 2009

    Great

    Great book. Harris seems as if he is only concerned with reason, whereas I feel Richard Dawkins has a bias he hides behind. I reccomend this book to everyone because we all need to hear this in the world we live in today. The Christians and Hindus are just as mentally dead as the Muslims are and they all need to wake up and stop hating eachother with their "truth". Dont listen to any reader who gave this book a one star. If a person doesnt like the material they at least need to give it a 2 or 3 for how smart and well written it is.

    4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 20, 2007

    A well-written book on a difficult subject.

    I was particularly impressed with the 'problem of evil'. I did not understand the part about meditation because I dislike meditating. I would have liked to have him address the benefits of religion because religion has many powerful benefits. When people pray with faith, they thank God for their blessings, they ask God to look after others, and they seek guidance. After prayer believers feel blessed, benevolent toward others, clear-headed, and free of worldy cares. Indescribable job flows from prayer, but I no longer believe that it is the work of God. Understanding what happens to believers is important, however, if we hope to persuade believers to think more rationally.

    3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted July 20, 2007

    Interesting but Highly Flawed

    I picked up this book because I, too, believe that, by and large, organized religion is a scourge that has been more divisive than beneficial in the history of humankind, and I wanted to know what someone else had to say on the subject. Unfortunately, Sam Harris is as dogmatic and bombastic -- and often simplistic -- as many of the people he criticizes. His arguments, finally, are generally not persuasive because they are expressed in such concrete, absolute terms -- he is terribly convinced of his own 'rightness,' and he puts many questions to the reader that he then answers for him/her, without giving the reader a chance to come to his/her own conclusion. In short, he shoves his opinions -- often thinly disguised as facts -- down the reader's throat instead of taking the time and thought to present a full argument 'despite the many citations and the voluminous -- and often fascinating -- notes, which in the end are more about quantity than quality'. The prose is also laced through with a sarcasm that is funny but does not serve his argument well and that seems a substitute for greater intellectual rigor and objectivity. I wanted to admire this book, but it was impossible given his all-or- nothing stance. He also seems to use the words 'God' and 'religion' interchangeably. Whether one believes in God or not, the two terms represent very different things -- and the book's focus should have been the 'religion' of the title. Questions of 'God' are something different, as many who have spurned organized religion 'and violence' have maintained a belief in God -- the venerable and highly ethical George Eliot 'nee Maryann Evans' among them. Sam Harris is a good writer who knows how to keep his reader's attention. But this book, whose subject held so much promise, seems little more than a grad student's diatribe in the end -- prettily written, to be sure, but nowhere near as sophisticated as its author appears to believe.

    3 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted February 18, 2007

    Man Without Faith?

    This was probablly the largest collection of condescending, smark, snippy and sarcastic remarks ever collected by a man in a peice of literature. Never has a man written such an acclaimed peice of work that would so horribly impact our world since Mein Kamph. If Sam Harris's world were to come to fruition, a world without faith, mankind would be directionless and hopeless. He has taken a side against faith, the one and perhaps only force powerful enough in this world to move the masses towards good and charity.I am appalled. Mr.Harris does not seem to understand the hope that faith can give the hopeless. God and his power saved me from a near-fatal car crash. I called his name and he delivered me. I asked for a sign of his love for me and it was given. I'm sorry Mr.Harris, this is one 'impressionable' youth that you will not taint. God bless you Mr.Harris.

    3 out of 58 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted September 29, 2006

    No more Ms GoodGuy!

    The End of Faith pried me out of a bad habit, which, in turn, will threaten the bad habit in others: that of accepting toxic social conditions. Really, the situation of atheists is rather like a non-smoker in the 50¿s. When asked, ¿Do you mind if I smoke,¿ we knee-jerked, ¿O no, of course not,¿ even though it always presented discomfort. In present social situations atheists are often confronted with the toxic statement ¿I have faith in¿¿ to which the speaker expects the usual genuflection of respect, even though we don¿t feel respect. This destroys the fabric of genuine social exchange. Tradition has demanded that we should acknowledge the speaker¿s fantasy, delusion, rigidity, and refusals to examine evidence as marvelous and desirable attributes. By refusing to challenge such a person, we become complicit. No longer! Thanks, Sam! A great book!

    3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted June 6, 2009

    about the end of fatith is a good book talak about the double morality is in USA how religion maniplulate and poison everthing , how this nation even when is a 1st world world country there are people still believe an ilusion call god

    well that book is make my undrestand how thing work here in america , how just maybe a 10 porcent of the americans use teh rational mind , why? how? well we need to more into the science and knowledge , that book shows how the religion controlling the minds of the people specially christain, muslims and jewish

    2 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted July 13, 2006

    Brilliant

    I found in this book a well thought out and clearly presented argument. And although the author would hold all religious faith to be irrational and obsolete, the book demonstrates that the real danger is not so much that people have faith in a particular God or religion, but that many people view their faith as the only true path, and believe they have the right to attack and kill people who do not share that faith.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted June 12, 2005

    REQUIRED READING

    It might make you mad, it might make you scared, it might make you frustrated. But it will definitely make you think. This book should be required reading for every American. The author has included a huge section of notes, so if you question any of his facts or sources, you can easily dig deeper and do your own research.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted December 28, 2011

    Good read.

    Open-minded for an atheiet.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted December 15, 2011

    Excellent Book

    A great book by one of my favorite authors.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted September 21, 2011

    Put this one to the top of your list!!!

    Sam delivers a precise and articulate blow to the foundations of religion. He touches not only on the erroneous nature of religious claims, but more importantly, he warns us of the dangers posed by religious obedience and of the ominous actuations on the horizon given the menacing amalgam of religious zeal and modern destructive technology. Sam Harris is the tip of the spear in the fight for reason. Read this book!

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted January 7, 2011

    If your open minded enough to read this ...

    This was a wonderful book, made me feel like I wasn't alone in my thoughts. I'm going to download the next two books now...

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted December 12, 2010

    Give a copy to everyone you know

    Sam Harris brilliantly and accessibly expresses a powerful and thoughtful argument against dogmatic faith and religion.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 8, 2010

    I Also Recommend:

    recommended

    There is nothing like ending faith. It's as natural as the air we breathe. That said. What the book is trying to say or do is expose the harmful effects of religion due mainly to the resurgence of the Islamic fights in the west. This is good but the writer didn't go far enough to explain the origins of these religions. Rumors also abound that he favors buddhist philosophy which was a breakaway from hindu religion. But it's the letter to a christian nation that hit the nail on the head, without bias.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted February 9, 2010

    Excellent

    Very enlightening and absorbing. Excellent book.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 146 Customer Reviews
If you find inappropriate content, please report it to Barnes & Noble
Why is this product inappropriate?
Comments (optional)
500 character limit