Quote:
Originally Posted by Craig  Somehow, Hitchens was allowed to derail the whole thing with bunny trails, inanity, and the like. |
FWIW, my thoughts on the debate:
1. Oliphant could have moderated a bit better. More structure was needed so that arguments could be followed.
2. Wilson should have gotten around alot sooner to driving home the point of Hitchens' presuppositions on logic / reason...it finally came near the end (a sort of Bahnsen v Stein moment) when Hitchens tried to deny any presupps by saying that logic was a man-made construct.
3. I got the sense that Wilson was trying to keep his future friendship with Hitchens intact and did not want to be too harsh...if that was the case, I don't fault him. Perhaps that and a combination of Wilson being a stronger writer than debater.
4. Hitchens is by far and away the most thoughtful atheist of these times. He has clearly wrestled with these issues and it shows.