The God Delusion: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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'''''The God Delusion''''' is a 2006 bestselling non-fiction book by British biologist [[Richard Dawkins]], professorial fellow of [[New College, Oxford]],<ref> {{cite web |url=http://www.simonyi.ox.ac.uk/index.shtml |title=The Simonyi Professorship Home Page |accessdate=2008-03-08 |publisher=The University of Oxford}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/bios/dawkins.html |title=The Third Culture: Richard Dawkins |accessdate=2008-03-08 |publisher=Edge.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Staff|title=Who's Who|publisher=[[A & C Black]]|location=London|year=2008|chapter=(Clinton) Richard Dawkins|accessdate=2008-07-29}}</ref> and inaugural holder of the [[Charles Simonyi]] Chair for the Public Understanding of Science at the [[University of Oxford]].

In ''The God Delusion'', Dawkins contends that a [[God|supernatural creator]] almost certainly does not exist and that belief in a [[personal god]] qualifies as a [[delusion]], which he defines as a persistent false belief held in the face of strong contradictory [[evidence]]. He isThis sympatheticdefinition toincludes [[RobertDawkins Pirsig]]'sfather observationwhom inDawkins ''[[Lila:blames Anfor Inquirygiving intohim Morals|Lila]]'' thata "whennormal oneAnglican person suffers from a delusion it is called insanityupbringing". When many people suffer from a delusion it is called religion."<ref name="preface">{{cite book |author=Dawkins, Richard |title=''The God Delusion'' |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |location=Boston |year=2006 |isbn=0-618-68000-4 |oclc= |doi=| authorlink = Richard Dawkins |page=406}}; {{PDF|[http://wwwen.randomhousewikipedia.com.auorg/Downloadswiki/News/GodDelusion_extract_revised.pdf on-lineRichard_Dawkins#Biography]|101&nbsp;KB}} </ref>

As of November 2007, the English version of ''The God Delusion'' had sold over 1.5 million copies and had been translated into 31 other languages.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://media.libsyn.com/media/pointofinquiry/POI_2007_12_7_Richard_Dawkins.mp3 | publisher= Richard Dawkins at Point of Inquiry | title= Richard Dawkins - Science and the New Atheism |accessdate= 8 December | accessyear= 2007 | date = 8 December 2007 }}</ref> It was ranked #2 on the [[Amazon.com]] bestsellers' list in November 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.amazon.com/dp/0618680004/|title=Amazon.com book page - search for sales rank for current position}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news | title=Atheists top book charts by deconstructing God | author=Jamie Doward | work=The Observer | url=http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,1934353,00.html | date=2006-10-29 | accessdate=2006-11-25}}</ref> In early December 2006, it reached #4 in the [[New York Times Best Seller list|''New York Times'' Hardcover Nonfiction Best Seller]] list after nine weeks on the list.<ref>{{Cite web | title= Hardcover Nonfiction - New York Times |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/03/books/bestseller/1203besthardnonfiction.html?_r=1&oref=slogin | accessdate=2006-12-02}}</ref> It remained on the list for 51 weeks until 30 September 2007.<ref>{{cite web |title=''The God Delusion'' One-Year Countdown |url=http://richarddawkins.net/article,1599,The-God-Delusion-One-Year-Countdown,RichardDawkinsnet |work=RichardDawkins.net |accessdate=2007-10-05}}</ref> It has attracted widespread commentary, with several books written in response.