Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Dawkins and McGrath

From Stand to Reason

Richard Dawkins interviewed Christian philosopher Alister McGrath, but it apparently wasn't used for Dawkins' project. Dawkins asks many very sincere questions. One example is when he admits that he defines faith differently than Christians do. Dawkins thinks faith is assent without evidence, which is obviously irrational and worthy of his derision if it's the case. But McGrath corrects this misconception of what faith is talking about evidence and probability, which is very much in the same realm of rationality as science. Dawkins and McGrath don't minimize their disagreements, but engage the discussion in a very intelligent, sincere manner.

1 comment:

  1. Nice blog! There is a great criticism of Hitchens and to some extent Dawkins too at Commonwheel. I did 2 posts on how Hitchen's work fails the test of rationality and logic. Have a great day!

    ReplyDelete

How to debate charitably (rules are links to more description of rule):
1. The Golden Rule
2. You cannot read minds
3. People are not evil
4. Debates are not for winning
5. You make mistakes
6. Not everyone cares as much as you
7. Engaging is hard work
8. Differences can be subtle
9. Give up quietly