Daniel Dennett vs Dinesh D'Souza: God 6of14

Dinesh D'Souza, Christian and best-selling author, faced off against Tufts professor, author, and atheist Daniel Dennett in a debate on the existence of god.

Was God created by humans? Daniel Dennett and Dinesh D'Souza will offer up two different answers to that question in the Cabot Auditorium during a debate hosted by the Freethought Society.

In addition to being a philosophy professor at Tufts, Dennett is "one of the most well-known atheists around," according to Freethought Society President Pat Andriola. Dennett will be arguing in favor of the resolution, which states that God is a man-made invention.

D'Souza, a conservative Christian and best-selling author, will oppose it.

Provost Jamshed Bharucha will moderate the debate.

"Each debater, starting with Professor Dennett, is going to get 20 to 25 minutes to open up his case," Andriola said. Following these statements, they will get two five-minute rebuttals each.

Finally, there will be a question and answer session during which the debaters will field inquiries from the audience.

Check out these books,

"Darwin's dangerous idea" Dennett,
"What's so great about Christianity" D'Souza

Category:

Education

Tags:

• daniel
• dennett
• dinesh
• d'souza
• god
• christianity
• atheism
• evolution
• creationism

[PSGJ]

loudness = being right, apparantly

[dave28lax]

Dinesh really likes his straw men, and is a master of obfuscation.

[Requiemxtoxinnocence]

If god does exist, he sure likes to troll humanity by not showing up and ending these repetitive debates that really go nowhere. Direct evidence of god in this century would not only end debates but also help prove whichever religion to be true or prove them all false and in doing so save billions from whatever punishment that awaits, but faith doesn't really get anyone anywhere at the end of the day.

[raxsade]

I hear a snort at 5:20

[GjVj]

Oh, wait. He follows that up by saying that, at best, one is forced to remain agnostic on the subject because, he states, "We are debating a question for which there is not and cannot really be decisive empirical evidence."

Double-Hallelujah! We are witnessing an epiphany! Dinesh just realised that all his preceding statements were bullshit. Well done buddy, there's hope for you yet.

[GjVj]

1:22 Hallelujah! Dinesh agrees that religions are man-made (even though he qualifies that statement somewhat, unsurprisingly). Great! That's the topic of the debate and you, D'Souza, have handed the victory to Dennett. So please shut the fuck up and sit the fuck down.

[mattccurtis]

Wow. Why is Dinesh yelling?

And Pascal's Wager? Seriously?

[AdderallApocalypse]

Dinesh is a champion of asshattery...

[AdderallApocalypse]

doesn't seem like this guy actually read any of Dennett's books... he doesn't know what he's talking about. "I would suggest..." *facepalm*

[DohsOfReality]

the Wager is fundamentally flawed in that there is no definite certainty in choosing the "right" religion.

It seems to be more of a coward's way out than anything else.

[YetAnotherHeretic]

Jesus christ, why so loud?

[emailgarbage20]

D'Souza cites Pascal's wager as an argument against agnosticism, not an argument for God's existence. Pascal's wager simply highlights the importance of one's decision with respect to belief in God. The wager is not, per se, an argument for God's existence and D'Souza makes this clear. Nonetheless, death is real and Pascal suggests that we think about the hereafter with the utmost seriousness.