 1974 ed. Book cover | |
| Author | Christopher Riche Evans |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Paul Agule (jacket design) |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Cults,pseudoscience |
| Publisher | Harrap, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Delacorte Press |
Publication date | 1973, 1974, 1975 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 257 (UK:259) |
| ISBN | 0-374-13324-7 ISBN 978-0-374-13324-5 ISBN 0-440-54402-5 ISBN 978-0-440-54402-9 UK 0245-518703 |
| OCLC | 863421 |
| 133/.06 | |
| LC Class | BF1999 .E83 1974 |
| Followed by | Landscapes of the Night – how and why we dream |
Cults of Unreason is anon-fiction book on atypicalbelief systems, written byChristopher Riche Evans, who was a notedcomputer scientist and anexperimental psychologist.[1] It was first published in the UK in 1973 byHarrap and in the United States in 1974 byFarrar, Straus and Giroux, in paperback in 1975, byDelacorte Press, and inGerman, byRowohlt, in 1976.[2]
Evans discussesScientology andDianetics,UFO religions, believers inAtlantis,biofeedback,Yoga,Eastern religions, andblack boxes. He points out that these systems and groups incorporate technological advances within a theological framework, and that part of their appeal is due to the failure of modern people to find strength, comfort, andcommunity in traditionalreligion and inscience.[1][3][4]
In 2001,new religious movement specialistGeorge Chryssides criticized the book's title by pointing out that most groups referred to as cults do have well-defined beliefs.[5]
