Robin Le Poidevin

I was surprised and delighted to find this book in “The Very Short Introduction” Most of the series I’ve read thus far, are historical surveys of a specific topic, some e cell Et, some terrible. This little book is more aptly titled “In Defense of Agnosticism” - a well argued, original philosophical text defending the importance and value of this position, while clarifying its meaning.

Perhaps I enjoyed it so much because I am totally on-board with his }Agnostic manifesto” at the show more end of the book which is the culmination of a tight and coherent argument for that position which I could never articulate as clearly. In particular, his argument for why agnostics can be engaged in what people see as theistic practices resonated deploy with my own ideas and practices.

Putting aside my own personal beliefs and positions, I would imagine this book would still be an interesting and though provoking read for anyone, no matter where they stand in this debate. show less

This book provides a good overview of the teleological, cosmological, and ontological arguments for Theism, then refutes them in detail using logic. As a theist, I remain unconvinced but that likely because of my bias.

What I really enjoyed about was the author's organization and presentations. Each chapter starts with an overview of the material covered. He then dives into the material by providing a concise but detailed explanation. He closes the chapter with a useful summary and suggested show more additional reading.

What I didn't like was the authors focus on the Abrahamic religions. Eastern religions receive scant attention. Deism is not addressed at all.

Overall, I highly recommend this book to theists who wish to understand another viewpoint. Arguing for Atheism is a good read for atheists as well. show less

As a rule, the VSI series is uniformly superb, and this contribution is no exception. An accomplished overview of the nuances of what it means to be an agnostic. For obvious reasons he focuses on agnosticism in the context of theistic religion, and Christianity particularly. While he touches on related situations as well, such as scientific agnosticism, fewer Christian-centric arguments would have been interesting.

A good intro to the *philosophy* of time and space, but it disappointingly eschews getting much into the *science* of the subject.