The Four Horsemen: Dawkins, Dennett, Harris, Hitchens (5/12)

On the 30th of September 2007, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens sat down for a first-of-its-kind, unmoderated 2-hour discussion, convened by RDFRS and filmed by Josh Timonen.

All four authors have recently received a large amount of media attention for their writings against religion - some positive, and some negative. In this conversation the group trades stories of the public's reaction to their recent books, their unexpected successes, criticisms and common misrepresentations. They discuss the tough questions about religion that face to world today, and propose new strategies for going forward.

Credit:
The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science
http://richarddawkins.net/

If you are interested in purchasing a high-quality DVD of this presentation, you can find it here:
http://richarddawkins.net/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products...

(Note: All proceeds from the sale of this DVD will go to the Ayaan Hirsi Ali Security Trust.)

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• Atheism
• Atheist
• Richard
• Dawkins
• Daniel
• Dennett
• Sam
• Harris
• Christopher
• Hitchens
• Religion
• Christianity
• Islam

[ragzy02]

I love Hitch, but his propensity to cut other people off has always irritated the piss out of me. I've counted at least 4 or 5 times so far through the first 5 videos where Sam tries to start a thought, and Hitch overtakes the conversation. Dawkins is by far my favorite of the four with Sam running a close second. Dawkins is always very polite, analytical, and scientific. He always chooses his words so intelligently, and he seems to be a very likeable, socially conscientious scientist.

[C1C0SS]

its like someone pulled the hair from his head out through his face

[crimsoncrazyable]

@fromis111 i respect the opinion of the both of you...i just don't see it that way...i mean that's more of his heated character the way i see it...i never saw Hitch be calm in any kind of discussion or debate...i did not see any bad manners from him...sometimes you do need to interrupt to make a point...but he does have that commanding attitude which i personally like. there are 4 different characters there...i care more about what they said, not how they made their points...but that's just me.

[fromis111]

@crimsoncrazyable I actually don't think that they speak more than him. Certainly Harris doesn't. And I don't know why you say the OP is using "every opportunity" to pick on Hitchens. I see only one criticism from the OP, not a barrage of them. I also like Hitchens, but I see ragzy02's point. It really is bad manners and it made me uncomfortable at times watching it.

[seanpull]

I love the point that Harris made towards the end, in which he acknowledged Dennet's opinion on the illegitimacy of the faith argument, and then made the point that when say Islam and Christianity were to debate, the faith argument of eachother's opposition would not be legitimate in eachother's eyes.

[seanpull]

In any legitimate debate, the arguments must be based off factual statements. You can share your opinion on the matter, but it has to be based off factual evidence. Anecdotal evidence simply does not count. Therefore, theism is inherently an undebatable topic.

[matprithellodave]

I had never actually known about Prof. Dennet, but I met him in these videos and I am impressed with what he has to say.

[crimsoncrazyable]

@ragzy02 why do you guys find the necessity to pick on characteristics of people and criticize them in every opportunity...Hitch also listens to them talk for a long time...in fact, they all speak more than him so he kind of has to cut through to state his opinion as well...

[Domzdream]

@ragzy02

-but rather because it's the theatrics of it all. Like a lawyer cross examining his 'victim', and ultimately decimating him through clever words and facts. He's kinda like the antithesis of Willy Lane Craig. OBVIOUSLY Craig is wrong once you filter out his verbose warble. But you can see he enjoys the battle of wits (though I give him too much credit on this).

One can see why Dawkins is so famous for his brilliance.

[Domzdream]

@ragzy02

I couldnt agree more. I feel exactly the same way. It really bugs me also. Because Hitchens is (was) a brilliant speaker. If only he could be a little bit more humble. You can actually see how pissed he is. Arm dangling. Speach- slurring. Forgetting his gentlemanly manners.

I simply recoil in shame though when he says he doesnt want theism to end. Dawkins calls him out on it and gets him to admit that he enjoys the argument with the theist,not actually for the moral reasons, but-

[577666]

What a ridiculous fucking beard! Does he think he's Jesus! What a plonker, does he look in the mirror ever. I cannot take seriously anything a man says when he inflicts this imbecilic shroud around his face. Evrey time he takes a drink he wipes the residue into the hair, yuk.