Read moreĪ marvelous, dense, but readable history of religious doubt, from the earliest writings to the 21st century. This remarkable book ranges from the early Greeks, Hebrew figures such as Job and Ecclesiastes, Eastern critical wisdom, Roman stoicism, Jesus as a man of doubt, Gnosticism and Christian mystics, medieval Islamic, Jewish and Christian skeptics, secularism, the rise of science, modern and contemporary critical thinkers such as Schopenhauer, Darwin, Marx, Freud, Nietzsche, the existentialists. This is an account of the world's greatest ‘intellectual virtuosos,' who are also humanity's greatest doubters and disbelievers, from the ancient Greek philosophers, Jesus, and the Eastern religions, to modern secular equivalents Marx, Freud and Darwin-and their attempts to reconcile the seeming meaninglessness of the universe with the human need for meaning, If you want to examine a book for possible rights licensing, please see Rights & Permissions.)Ĭloth edition, ISBN 0-1, is out of print.In the tradition of grand sweeping histories such as From Dawn To Decadence, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, and A History of God, Hecht champions doubt and questioning as one of the great and noble, if unheralded, intellectual traditions that distinguish the Western mind especially-from Socrates to Galileo and Darwin to Wittgenstein and Hawking. (If you want to examine a book for possible course use, please see our Course Books page. Media & bookseller inquiries regarding review copies, events, and interviews can be directed to the publicity department at or (608) 263-0734. Several scholarly volumes and one previous collection of poetry.

Jennifer Michael Hecht is a historian who has published Hecht has produced a collection like no other. 'Playing off a catalogue of jokes which we all recognize,Īs well as serious theories about the comic, Jennifer Michael On the matter than these deep, delightful poems.'TedĬohen, author of Jokes: Philosophical Thoughts on Joking Matters but we have to try, and you will not find better meditations 'No one will ever explain why what's funny is funny. Humor has finally reclaimed its legitimate place in American Revels in rhythmic intricacy and literary references, but isĪlso clear as a bell and tells marvelous stories.

This is poetry that swarms with ideas, that The poems are psychological tender and humane, and Is always on people, on our most private ways of balancing ourĪccounts. It createsĪ musing world where the issues are philosophical but the focus Of poetic, as well as philosophic and comic, invention. Winner of the 2005 Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry, selected by Billy Collins UW Press - : Funny, Jennifer Michael Hecht

Doubt by Jennifer Michael Hecht