Disturbing, and sometimes dangerous, forms of religious belief are on the rise around the world. We need to be on our guard.

The central aim of Stephen Law’s latest book, Believing Bullshit, is to immunise readers against the wiles of many cultists, creationists, ‘New Age’ faddists, self-styled gurus, psychics and healers and other purveyors of snake oil by providing a ‘How to . . .’ pocket guide to the tricks of the trade. By such means, an impregnable fortress can be constructed around a set of beliefs, rendering it immune to any sort of rational criticism – an intellectual black hole. Law flags up eight main mechanisms involved in producing such psychological fly-traps and reveals how they succeed in imprisoning minds.

Law is senior lecturer in philosophy at Heythrop College, University of London, and Provost of Centre for Inquiry UK. He has written several popular introductions to philosophy including The Philosophy Gym and The Philosophy Files.

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