Debates worth listening to?
4 posters
Page 1 of 1
Debates worth listening to?
Anyone have any good debates to recommend?
After finishing RD's back catalog, I went out looking for more- listened to The God Delusion and God is Not Great and a started a few other atheist podcasts. Wanting even more, I've tried a few debates- Krauss v Craig, Price v Boyd, Hitchens v Craig, and Hitchens v Boteach. I feel like there was some Dawkins debate in there as well, can't remember with whom. I've been pretty underwhelmed by the debating skills of Krauss, Hitchens, and Dawkins. Hitchens and Dawkins are good for jabs and retorts, but neither seem to grasp the structure of a debate, rarely knocking out the pillars on which their opponent's case rests. This makes clowns like Price look good, even though I feel like I could refute his claims. Not sure if I can stomach another debate with the smarmy Craig without a principled smack down,
Just wondering if there are any debates with an honest and top-tier Christian/religious apologist and/or at least a debate where the atheist knows how to win a debate properly.
After finishing RD's back catalog, I went out looking for more- listened to The God Delusion and God is Not Great and a started a few other atheist podcasts. Wanting even more, I've tried a few debates- Krauss v Craig, Price v Boyd, Hitchens v Craig, and Hitchens v Boteach. I feel like there was some Dawkins debate in there as well, can't remember with whom. I've been pretty underwhelmed by the debating skills of Krauss, Hitchens, and Dawkins. Hitchens and Dawkins are good for jabs and retorts, but neither seem to grasp the structure of a debate, rarely knocking out the pillars on which their opponent's case rests. This makes clowns like Price look good, even though I feel like I could refute his claims. Not sure if I can stomach another debate with the smarmy Craig without a principled smack down,
Just wondering if there are any debates with an honest and top-tier Christian/religious apologist and/or at least a debate where the atheist knows how to win a debate properly.
rev- Posts : 1
Join date : 2011-07-06
Re: Debates worth listening to?
If you're looking for a high-school style debate between the sorts of intellectuals you mention, you will be looking for a very long time. A scholarly debate is not about overwhelming your opponent with rapid-fire short-form 'arguments' but about laying out a persuasive case using sound arguments and solid evidence. I don't know of any atheists who use the high-school style, maybe Stenger or Tabash come the closest but I think that's being a little unfair to them.
On the other hand if you are just looking for verbal entertainment, Hitchens is definitely the way to go.
On the other hand if you are just looking for verbal entertainment, Hitchens is definitely the way to go.
Re: Debates worth listening to?
In relation to handling Craig I feel Arif Ahmed poleaxed Craig when he debated him at Cambridge. It is a debate that is well worth listening to and is a good though not complete model of how to deal with Craig. Ahmed also disposed of Gary Habermas without breaking into a sweat.
stooble- Posts : 3
Join date : 2011-08-06
ahmed
I agree the Ahmed vs. Craig debate is worth listening to. Ahmed's arguments are devestating to the opposition viewpoint. There's a good list of 500+ debates at
http://commonsenseatheism.com/?p=50
there are some good ones if you spend the time digging through em.
http://commonsenseatheism.com/?p=50
there are some good ones if you spend the time digging through em.
Nik K- Posts : 4
Join date : 2011-07-15
Page 1 of 1
Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum