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Doug's
Pre Review
of
Daniel C. Dennett's

Breaking the Spell
by Doug Renselle

Doug's Pre-review Commentary (you are here now)

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Introduction

1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Notes Appendices

Move to any Chapter of Doug's Critical Review of Daniel C. Dennett's Breaking the Spell,
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Breaking the Spell...............Doug's Pre Review


Originally we decided to do our review on our Classical vis-à-vis Quantum Religion Recommended Reading web page and do it incrementally, as we read Breaking the Spell's text. It worked fine until we started our Chapter 3 review. Our PageMill app. bogged down at that point, so we decided to move each Chapter to a separate page of its own. Here we are... We'll use separate pages as a way to incrementally finish this review, instead of trying to cram all of it into our CvQ Religion RR page. Doug - 25Feb2006.

As of 13Feb2006 we have read and reviewed chapter 1 of BtS and we are about 0.67 through chapter 2. Our overall assessment here is that Dennett impressively and comprehensively shows his readers and demonstrates for his readers that in which he faithfully believes and calls "science," itself, is a religion. Indeed in chapter 2 Dennett discloses 'science' as a catholic religion (when it appears mid February, 2006, read our chapter 2 review, below). Dennett's religious 'science' worships and believes in dialectical objectivity and scientific method's superiority in all means of assessment, including science qua assessing subjective religion. Doug - 12Feb2006.

Dennett admits borrowing his book's title, with slight modification.

Immediately, we find problems with 'his' title's thelogos. Does not Breaking the Spell imply one spell? Indeed, that appears to be what Dennett assumes: there is just one spell which he calls "social religion" which needs breaking.

See, reader,... we find that notion infantile. Would you agree there are many 'spells?' For example:

Lotsa EOOOs. Few BAWAMs!

As we read Dennett, we find that he is just as religious about his science, reason, and atheism as he is anti religious about religion. Fascinating!

According to Dennett his 'reason' is that religious reason is unreasonable and we, global society, need to agree on that and form a novel OSFA reason which fits all of us. That will solve our world's greatest problem: religion.

Haven't we been there afore?

"If Doug spent that much time just on Dennett's title, G¤d help us getting through the rest of Dennett's story..."

J

Actually we agree with many of Dennett's points. Sincerely!!! However, we worry that he doesn't grasp an even more unalloyed and undifferentiated 'spell' underlying Dennett's religion and our extended list of 'spells' above. Quantonics adepts are k~now~ings of which we speak...

 

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Doug Renselle
Quantonics, Inc.
Suite 18, #368 1950 East Greyhound Pass
Carmel, INdiana 46033-7730
USA
1-317-THOUGHT

©Quantonics, Inc., 2006-2010 Rev. 18Jul2008  PDR Created: 25Feb2006  PDR
(4Mar2006 rev - Add anchor to list of other 'spells.')


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