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Amazing insight into the human condition

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Well written, in sections sometimes going for several pages, and sometimes only a few lines. Varied topics with a fascinating common thread - humanity is not as important as we have been telling ourselves we are. Very readable.

No better than beasts

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In 1838, Charles Darwin jotted in a notebook: 'He who understands a baboon would do more towards metaphysics than Locke'.

That would serve as a nice epigram to John Gray's book. He is an acute demolisher of our Post-Enlightenment human illusions: that reason is something definable to aim towards, that long term progress of the race is possible, that there is an individual self that can be developed over the life cycle, that morality is something innate in our psyches.

No, no, no. Humans have acted, over history, as poorly as the most violent and arbitrary of beasts because, frankly, we are beasts. This is where the post Darwin age leads us - to this. Better get used to it, and decouple yourself from your human centric world view because you ain't going to be around for long - the earth has existed long before human DNA came on the scene, and will exist for millions of years after we're gone, to face it's own fiery abolition at the hands of the exploding sun.

Gray writes in the controversial tradition of Darwin, Schopenhaeur, Hume, Burke. Sceptical, with a cold eye for deconstructing our human folly. His style is swift, brisk and illustrative, rather than deeply argued, but there is a sizable appendix at the back for those wishing to investigate his arguments further. As Will Self puts it, an apercus that is easy to read, hard to swallow.

One Star/Five Star (Decided by metaphorical toin coss)

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I could have gone with either five stars or one star, though not any star in between. That in itself says a lot about the book. If I could, I would give it both a one star and a five star rating simultaneously; indeed I think it just would not do justice to the book to reduce it to a score.

The sheer rhetorical force of Gray's words makes this compelling reading. One almost feels the need to react to it by way of criticism. At the same time, the book itself compels the reader to ask: is this criticism really just self-deception? And so I've waited to write a review for a long time.

Five stars because this book makes an impact. It forces one to think. It is a smorgasbord of important ideas. It is a book I'd recommend to any intelligent, critical reader -- if only so they can debunk a lot of it! This should be seen a compliment; even debunking Gray's ideas can be a truly fruitful exercise.

One star because the book is deeply flawed. Although I can and do agree with many of Gray's conclusions, the logic that gets him to those is, well, simply not logic. Despite his obvious intelligence and education, he doesn't really seem to understand modern science. And that is simply something the philosopher of today cannot afford.

Very little that Gray says is new. On those points with which I agree, they have been expressed better in works by Pinker (The Blank Slate), Dawkins (The Extended Phenotype) and Dennett (Darwin's Dangerous Idea; Elbow Room: The Varieties of Free Will Worth Wanting) amongst many others. These works have the benefit of being based on cumulative scientific evidence. The last chapter of "The End of Faith" by Harris is far better than the mere assertions of Gray because it establishes the link between neuroscience and spirituality.

As for philosophers, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche and Santayana (again, to name but three) have contended with nihilism far more interestingly than Gray. And how could I not include the name of Bertrand Russell, whose essay "An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish" is enough to dismiss half of Gray's arguments? That is, where there actually are arguments rather than brilliantly-disguised assertions expressed with near-religious conviction!

Final word: Both 1 and 5 stars. Gray is a force to be reckoned with. Definitely worth reading as long as you don't let yourself become hypnotized by Gray's superb rhetoric. Books I'd recommend as alternatives (or should I say antidotes) are "The Blank Slate" and "The End of Faith".

A scintillating book, if read with an open mind

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John Gray is a classic iconoclast. This book presents a collection of his thoughts on many of the aspects of modern "civilization" and, in so doing, offers explanations for what seems to be its myriad of contradictions.

This book is not for the overly sensitive or optimistic. Rather it presents the author's hard-minded but realistic conclusions on the limitations of man, and the societies he has engendered. Such fictions as man's inherent rationality, continuous strides toward constant progress, and effortsd to be reasonable and compassionate are challenged repeatedly, and successfully if one only bothers to look at society in an objective rather than a wishful, wistful sense.

Dr. Gray's writing style is clear and easily read if the reader doesn't try to absorb too many ideas in one session. The book leaps from topic to topic on occasion without sufficient conncting thoughts. For this reason, I did not afford the book a five-star rating. I greatly enjoyed the numerous quotations and references to other authors, and the compendium of notes at book's end.

Today's troubled times demand clear reflection, and this book's text will afford hours of that, if the book is read without letting prior prejudices interfere with what the author has to say. I could not agree with everything the author postulates, but I urge the reader to avoid the prejudices toward the Enlightenment and humanism evidenced by many of the other reviews, and criticized by Dr. Gray.

I recommend this book very highly, both on its own merits and as an introduction to other philosohical and historical works. Anyone willing to exercise the mind will truly enjoy this work.

Provocative, Stimulating, but Ultimately Gray's Nihilism Is Unconvincing

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Sharp thinker John Gray argues that the Christians and secular humanists have got it all wrong. Their shared belief that humans are on the center stage of history, that we are distinct from animals, that we are moral beings, and that, whether through God or science or the power of reason, we are progressing toward utopia and perfection is a grotesque illusion. In fact, Gray argues, we are helplessly irrational, immoral, and doomed to destruction as our "rapacity," the very quality that makes us succeed and flourish, is the same quality that will result in our extinction. Gray claims that we are doomed because we are the earth's "parasites" and our overpopulation and misguided technology will destroy us.

Gray lays out three philosophies of life and I inferred that we must choose from one of them: the religious believer, the secular humanist, or, like Gray, the Darwinian nihilist. The former two, as I wrote earlier, are according to Gray mired in the delusion that we are moral and distinct from animals. Then there is Gray's belief that we are nothing more than animals, living out our instincts. But I reject Gray's choices. I argue that one can be a Weary Humanist, one who is not deluded by our irrational impulses and general limitations but one who finds meaning by struggling to alleviate cruelty and suffering. Gray says we should give up our struggle to be moral because our "morality" is a delusion. While I admire Gray's intellectual rigor, I cannot embrace his nihilism. Like Gray, I will acknowledge our human flaws, but he did not convince me to give up my struggle to be more moral and to cultivate compassion.

In the end I must give Gray the full max of 5 stars because his fascinating book took me down a concise tour of philosophy, Darwin, science, and made me examine my beliefs. I would rather read an original challenging book like Gray's that I don't completely agree with than some trite collection of homilies. My hats off to Gray for writing something so original and provocative.