''A Devil's Chaplain: Reflections on Hope, Lies, Science, and Love'' is a 2003 book of selected essays and other writings by
Richard Dawkins. Published five years after Dawkins's previous book ''
Unweaving the Rainbow
''Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder'' is a 1998 book by the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, in which the author discusses the relationship between science and the arts from the perspective of a scienti ...
'', it contains essays covering subjects including
pseudoscience
Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable clai ...
,
genetic determinism
Biological determinism, also known as genetic determinism, is the belief that human behaviour is directly controlled by an individual's genes or some component of their physiology, generally at the expense of the role of the environment, whether ...
,
memetics,
terrorism
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
,
religion
Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...
and
creationism. A section of the book is devoted to Dawkins' late adversary
Stephen Jay Gould.
The book's title is a reference to a quotation of
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...
, in a letter to
J.D. Hooker dated 13 July 1856, made in reference to Darwin's lack of belief in how "a perfect world" was
designed by God (and a reference to Reverend
Robert Taylor):
"What a book a devil's chaplain might write on the clumsy, wasteful, blundering low and horridly cruel works of nature!"
Reception
Robin McKie reviewed the book for ''
The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...
'' and stated that the book contained a mixture of touching essays and "the good, old knockabout stuff at which Dawkins excels".
See also
*
Argument from poor design
The argument from poor design, also known as the dysteleological argument, is an argument against the assumption of the existence of a creator God, based on the reasoning that any omnipotent and omnibenevolent deity or deities would not creat ...
*
Great Ape Project
The Great Ape Project (GAP), founded in 1993, is an international organization of primatologists, anthropologists, ethicists, and others who advocate a United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Great Apes that would confer basic legal right ...
References
External links
* Review by
Michael Ruse, 2003.
Through a Glass, Darkly" ''
American Scientist''.
* Review by
Richard Harries
Richard Douglas Harries, Baron Harries of Pentregarth, (born 2 June 1936) is a retired bishop of the Church of England and former British Army officer. He was the Bishop of Oxford from 1987 to 2006. From 2008 until 2012 he was the Gresham Profes ...
, 2003.
A Devil's Chaplain by Richard Dawkins. ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
''.
* Review by
Richard Holloway
Richard Holloway FRSE (born 26 November 1933) is a Scottish writer, broadcaster and cleric. He was the Bishop of Edinburgh from 1986 to 2000 and Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church from 1992 to 2000.
Early life and education
Born in Po ...
, 2003.
A callous world" ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Devil's Chaplain, A
2003 non-fiction books
Books by Richard Dawkins
Books critical of religion
Essays about biology
English-language books
English essay collections
Houghton Mifflin books