Dispirited – How Contemporary Spirituality Makes Us Stupid, Selfish and Unhappy

Dr David Webster is Principal Lecturer in Religion, Philosophy and Ethics at the University of Gloucestershire. His main work is in Buddhist thought, and its relationship to Western Philosophy.

Refusing all inwardness and consolation, David Webster faces down spirituality's guile in favour of a bleak atheism's hints of a worthwhile life. Bracing, timely stuff! (Peter Manley Scott, University of Manchester, UK) Annoyed by the phrase 'I am not religious, but I'm very spiritual', Dr. David Webster successfully maps out the problems and contradictions it leads to. This is as close to a 'must read' as it gets, for the religious as well as the spiritual reader, as well as for atheists. (Dr. Mikael Askander, Department of Arts and Cultural Sciences, Lund University, Sweden) Should be placed gently but firmly in the hands of any budding convert who thinks that the vacuous claims of a new spirituality are any better than the lies, evasions and hypocrisies of orthodox religion. (Professor Christopher Norris, Distinguished Research Professor in Philosophy, Cardiff University)