From the very first time I've see his documentary "The root of all evil", I found him to be an angry, philosophically ignorant, theologically ignorant preacher; To me, it seems that Dawkins and a crazy fundamentalist street corner preachers raging against dancing, smoking and beer, have a lot in common. They just have a different fundamental belief.
Over the years, I found that I am not the only one who thinks this way. From my experience, every serious(1) philosopher who spoke of Dawkins (or the other four horseman) , basically shares my view. They often don't bother refuting his arguments because they are so childish and ignorant, that, in one professor's view, even a first year philosophy student knows better.
So, as I come across more, I will update this blog with a list of such opinions, for reference purposes.
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hhzgg59bVLU
- https://youtu.be/USUlfbn-spE?t=4m18s [ first 30 seconds]
- https://youtu.be/USUlfbn-spE?t=8m44s
- https://youtu.be/LZMWKsB0QzI?t=2m47s [first 5 minutes only]
- https://youtu.be/lQX3-kxywrs?t=21m45s [first 30 seconds only ]
- https://youtu.be/07Ys4tQPRis?t=14m5s (15 seconds - one of my favorites)
Longer materials:
(1) What I mean by "serious philosopher" is someone who is trained in philosophy, at least in some minor form. While it does not make the opinion of others incorrect, it is just that I am less interested in what joe-from-the-bar thinks of Dawkins, than of what Prof Peter Singer, or Prof John Lennox thinks of Dawkins.
Some Books:
Some Books:
- Answering the New Atheism: Dismantling Dawkins' Case Against God
- God's Undertaker: Has Science Buried God?
- This is not exactly on Dawkins, but it is very much related : God and Stephen Hawkins
I like that in the 2nd link the guy says Dawkins won't debate William Lane Craig, yet on the youtube recommended links to the right is his debate with William Lane Craig. :)
ReplyDeleteAlso he never claimed to be a "philosopher", he claimed to be a scientist - and ultimately when you have untestable claims trotted out as truth, you can sit around in a toga smoking doobies all day long, doesn't make them any more likely to be substantiated. Truth is truth.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThat was not a debate :)
DeleteBut correct, he is not a philosopher so he should stop pretending that he is. But in The God Delusion he is pretending to dismantle argument for theism like Aquinas's arguments. He does not understand the argument ( most philosophers agree with that, which is the point of this article) but he pretends that he does.
He is either ignorant, or insincere. I suspend it is a bit of both but more insincere. I think he knows he does not get it, but he also knows that most people also don't get it, so he chooses pretend so as to convince more people of atheism.
This makes him either stupid, or a charlatan. I believe it is the latter.
He portrays the arguments, in its flawed, simplistic way that he knows most uneducated people understand it as, then refutes it, and claims he has refuted the strongest argument for God.
Maybe he is just too stupid to get it, but I doubt it; he just believes the means justify the ends. Atheist's morality - utilitarianism. That is, "it is permissible to lie, as long as the result is justified". At least he is consistent in following his morality.
I don't think that's a fair characterization of "atheist morality", given most atheists I know (and the one I am) are good outstanding people - as moral if not more so as those who claim to be religious.
DeleteCatholic morality: "I can lie, then do a few Hail Mary's and be forgiven". :) We can both play this game.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
Delete@jonovision_man, we are getting slightly off top of this post, but me me just say this- What you describe, is not "Catholic morality". I can suggest a few good books in case you want to know what Catholics actually believe, and not a caricature of it.
DeleteAnd yes, as to atheistic morality - I have not yet heard any other proposed system than some form of utilitarianism. However, since most atheists do not understand what utilitarianism really entails, yes, they can be excellent people - God speaks to theists and atheists alike you know :)
There is an excellent discussion of this here http://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/questions-of-value.html and here http://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/quest-for-meaning-values-ethics-and-the-modern-experience.html
I was raised Catholic - you can quote all the books you want, I've seen how Catholics actually act.
DeleteBeing an atheist is merely a statement that one does not believe in God, from there anyone can choose to live their life any number of ways. That being said, our humanity doesn't come from dusty old books, it comes from impulses that have evolved (in the real sense, not the Francis sense) over many many generations - and that is why you find the average atheist is no more or less moral than the average churchgoer (and if you look at prison populations, you'll likely find atheists under, not overrepresented).
Calling your self "catholic" and actually following the prescriptions of "catholic morale life" are two different things. But you are right, too many people profess to be catholic with very little interest in actually learning what it mean, let alone living it out. This is changing as many of those "catholic" are leaving the church which maybe a very good thing
Delete