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| ==Review of The God Delusion== | ==Review of The God Delusion== | ||
| In reviewing ]' '']'', Malik expressed that view that Dawkins has put powerful arguments against the existence of God. However, he found the book marred by a degree of naivety about the reasons for religion's attraction, and by a distorted picture of religion's role in contemporary armed conflicts: | In reviewing ]' '']'' in late 2006, Malik expressed that view that Dawkins has put powerful arguments against the existence of God. However, he found the book marred by a degree of naivety about the reasons for religion's attraction, and by a distorted picture of religion's role in contemporary armed conflicts: | ||
| :Dawkins's polemic against the need for religion is compelling, even if the arguments are not particularly new. Less persuasive is his attempt to explain what faith is and why people continue to believe. So great is his loathing for religion that it sometimes overwhelms his reasoned argument. ...Whatever our views on God — and I am as obdurate an atheist as Dawkins — blaming it all on religion does little to illuminate the nature of contemporary sectarian conflict." <ref>, ] 2006 </ref> | :Dawkins's polemic against the need for religion is compelling, even if the arguments are not particularly new. Less persuasive is his attempt to explain what faith is and why people continue to believe. So great is his loathing for religion that it sometimes overwhelms his reasoned argument. ...Whatever our views on God — and I am as obdurate an atheist as Dawkins — blaming it all on religion does little to illuminate the nature of contemporary sectarian conflict." <ref>, ] 2006 </ref> | ||
Revision as of 05:09, 12 February 2007
Kenan Malik is an Indian-born British writer, lecturer and broadcaster. As a scientific author, his focus is on the philosophy of biology, and contemporary theories of multiculturalism, pluralism and race.
Career
Malik was born in India and brought up in Manchester, Great Britain. He studied neurobiology at the University of Sussex and History of Science at Imperial College, London. In between, he was a research psychologist at the Centre for Research into Perception and Cognition (CRPC) at the University of Sussex.
He has lectured at a number of universities, including University of Cambridge (Department of Biological Anthropology); University of Oxford (St. Anthony's College and the Department for Continuing Education); the Institute of Historical Research, London; Goldsmiths College, University of London (Department of Social Anthropology); University of Liverpool (Department of Politics); Nottingham Trent University; University of Newcastle (Department of Social Policy and Sociology); University of Oslo; and the European University, Florence. In 2003, he was a visiting fellow at the University of Melbourne, Australia.
His writing has appeared in a variety of newspapers and magazines including The Guardian, Financial Times, the Independent, Independent on Sunday, Sunday Times, Sunday Telegraph, New Statesman, Prospect, TLS, The Times Higher Education Supplement, and Nature. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and one of the presenters of Analysis on BBC Radio 4.
Areas of academic interest
His main areas of academic interest are philosophy of biology and philosophy of mind, scientific method and epistemology, theories of human nature, science policy, bioethics, political philosophy, the history, philosophy and sociology of race, and the history of ideas.
His book "The Meaning of Race" examines the historical development, and philosophical and political roots, of the idea of race. It also explores the relationship between the idea of race and contemporary theories of multiculturalism and pluralism. Man, Beast and Zombie investigates the historical roots, philosophical assumptions and alleged methodological problems of contemporary theories of human nature, in particular cognitive science and evolutionary psychology. His forthcoming book, The Museum of Difference, examines the relationship between scientific and political ideas of human differences, and between ideas of human nature and human differences.
Review of The God Delusion
In reviewing Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion in late 2006, Malik expressed that view that Dawkins has put powerful arguments against the existence of God. However, he found the book marred by a degree of naivety about the reasons for religion's attraction, and by a distorted picture of religion's role in contemporary armed conflicts:
- Dawkins's polemic against the need for religion is compelling, even if the arguments are not particularly new. Less persuasive is his attempt to explain what faith is and why people continue to believe. So great is his loathing for religion that it sometimes overwhelms his reasoned argument. ...Whatever our views on God — and I am as obdurate an atheist as Dawkins — blaming it all on religion does little to illuminate the nature of contemporary sectarian conflict."
Politics
In 1987 Malik stood in the UK general election for the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP), a small trotskyist group. Malik wrote for the RCP's controversial magazine Living Marxism, later LM, which was closed in March 2000 following a libel lawsuit brought by British news agency ITN after an LM article claimed that ITN had faked a photograph of a prison camp holding Muslims during the Bosnian War. Although the RCP has now disbanded, Malik is still informally involved with the later incarnations of LM, the web magazine Spiked Online, which he has written for, and the Institute of Ideas (IoI).
Charity Affiliations
Dr. Malik is a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association.
Books
- The Meaning of Race: Race, History and Culture in Western Society, Palgrave / New York University Press, 1996
- Man, Beast and Zombie: What Science Can and Cannot Tell Us About Human Nature, Weidenfeld & Nicolson 2000 / Rutgers University Press, 2002
External links
- Homepage
- "Bad bargain made in the mosque" by K. Malik, The Times, July 6, 2006
- "The Colour-Coded Prescription", transcript, presenter K. Malik, Analysis, BBC, November 17, 2005
- Globe of the World, transcript, presenter K. Malik, Analysis, BBC, March 16, 2006
- "Let Languages Rest in Peace", by K. Malik, San Francisco Chronicle, November 12 2000, published at sjsu.edu
- "What hate?, Muslims believe they are under attack from all sides. But racial abuse is being exaggerated to stifle critics of Islam" by Kenan Malik, The Guardian, January 7, 2005
- "Multiculturalism and the road to terror", essay by K. Malik, Handelsblatt, January 3 2006, published at kenanmalik.com
- Islamophobia myth, essay by K. Malik, Prospect Magazine, February 2005, published at communautarisme.net
- "Too much respect: Liberals argue that a more diverse society requires less diverse opinion. Nonsense", essay by K. Malik, Prospect Magazine, March 23 2006, published at freethinktank.com
- "I don't believe in Richard Dawkins", The Daily Telegraph
- Living people
- British writers
- British journalists
- Scientific journalists
- Academics of the University of St Andrews
- Fellows of the Royal Society of Arts
- People associated with Imperial College London
- Revolutionary Communist Party (UK, 1978) members
- Academics of Goldsmiths College, University of London
- Academics of Nottingham Trent University
- British humanists