Townhall.com, Where Your Opinion Counts
Talk Radio:   Bill Bennett   Mike Gallagher   Dennis Prager   Michael Medved   Hugh Hewitt   
BREAKING NEWS  LeftArrow - Townhall.com : Conservative, Political, Republican   RightArrow - Townhall.com : Conservative, Political, Republican  
Columns, funnies & more in your inbox!
Login | What's Hot
  • Check the boxes and send us your email address to receveive your free newsletter
  • Your daily must-read of conservative columns, cartoons and news. Coulter, Sowell, Krauthammer and more.
  • Townhall.com’s weekly inside scoop on what’s happening behind the scenes in the world of politics. When news breaks, we report.
  • Signup to receive the latest daily Townhall cartoons

Townhall.com The Blogspot for Political, Conservative and Republican Blogs and Bloggers


Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Richard Dawkins and the Transparency of Insecurity (Bumped)
Posted by: Hugh Hewitt at 5:00 PM
I taped an interview with Richard Dawkins Monday, which will air in the third hour of Tuesday's show.  As I note at the outset of our conversation, I took a course in natural selection theory as an undergrad from Stephen Jay Gould more than 30 years ago, and the key text was Dawkins' The Selfish Gene, which I thought then and continue to believe is a fascinating book that deserves a close read from anyone interested in the theory of how organisms survive and thrive in the world.

The angry atheist Dawkins is far less interesting to me than the biologist Dawkins, and his unwillingness to debate folks like Dinesh D'Souza is an indictment of his confidence in his atheism --a projection really of the anti-intellectualism he attributes to his critics.  Dawkins' latest, The Greatest Show on Earth --the Evidence for Evolution is very interesting on many levels, but also full of unusual editorial choices, a sort of extended filibuster mixed with the sort of invective that is never very persuasive and almost always the mark of intellectual insecurity.  

The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution

I look forward to your reactions to the conversation, and will open a thread at the Hughniverse to collect them.  The books I reference in the interview are: David Berlinski's The Devil's Delusion, 

The Devil's Delusion: Atheism and Its Scientific Pretensions

Francis Collins' The Language of God, 

The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief

and Mark D. Roberts' Can We Trust The Gospels?

Can We Trust the Gospels?: Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John

In our exchanges, Dawkins evades direct questions a few times, and seems unable to grasp even the most obvious of objections which is that the analogies he employs to explainhis methods and to attack his critics ought also to be applicable to challenge his own arguments.  When I did so, he exclaimed that I sounded like a lawyer, which of course I am, and which I admit does leave me bound up by the conventions of proof that go along with the study of law.  

The transcript of our conversation will be posted here after the show airs.

 |   |  (0)  |  (0)
View in ascending order View in descending order
Sign Up to Post Your Comments Sign Up to Post Your Comments
Please take a few seconds to sign up, then you’ll be able to post your comments immediately, use the action center, get podcasts, create your own blog and more! If you are already registered, click here.
Note: Fields marked with a red asterisk (*) are required.
Salutation:
First Name:
*
Last Name:
*
Email:
*
Address 1:
*
Address 2:
City:
 *
State:
 *
Zip:
 *
Your daily must-read of conservative columns, cartoons and news. Coulter, Sowell, Krauthammer and more.
(Bi-Weekly) We highlight the best opportunities from our partners for surveys, action items and more.
 


Townhall Blog, Breaking News & Commentary from the Townhall Crew

Breaking News & Commentary from the Townhall Crew
Breaking News & Commentary from the Townhall Crew
Your Blog Postings:
Last updated 35 Minutes 12 Seconds Ago
Last updated 1 Hours 36 Minutes 14 Seconds Ago
Last updated 2 Hours 33 Minutes 6 Seconds Ago
Last updated 2 Hours 53 Minutes 25 Seconds Ago
Last updated 3 Hours 8 Minutes 39 Seconds Ago
 

Archives of our Conservative, Republican, Political Blogs

Blog Search



Townhall Conservative, Republican, Political Blogs Townhall Blogs
Townhall Conservative, Republican, Political Columns Columns
Your Townhall Conservative, Republican, Political Blogs Your Blogs
By Month
 December 2009
 November 2009
 October 2009
 September 2009
 August 2009
 July 2009
 June 2009
 May 2009
 April 2009
 March 2009
 February 2009
 January 2009
 December 2008
 November 2008
 October 2008
 September 2008
 August 2008
 July 2008
By Issue
 A Culture of Life
  Budget & Government
  Campaigns & Elections
 Education
  Energy & Environment
  Faith & Family
  Foreign Affairs
  Health Care
 Immigration
  Jobs & Economy
  Judges & Courts
  Media & Culture
  Property Rights
  Safety & Security
  Science & Technology
  Second Amendment
  Social Security
  Tax Relief
Advertisement

Comments Comments

•Darwin would have been confused by Mike
 Re: You Will Subsidize Abortion
  By Careful with that axe, Eugene
•Corky Frog Retarded Post
 Re: You Will Subsidize Abortion
  By Careful with that axe, Eugene
•Akennas
 Re: Rudy Rules Out 2010 Run
  By Careful with that axe, Eugene
•Dufus
 Re: You Will Subsidize Abortion
  By Good man's wife
•Without A Single Doubt
 Re: Proof Obama knows diddly-poop about jobs, economy, or solutions...
  By T.C.
•Munck II
 Re: You Will Subsidize Abortion
  By NOTW
•Munck
 Re: You Will Subsidize Abortion
  By NOTW
•In Defense of War
 Re: Wash Times: Nelson Sold His Soul On Abortion Amendment
  By Dufas_Brainard
•God is pro-life
 Re: You Will Subsidize Abortion
  By Dufas_Brainard
•60's Boomer
 Re: Two Republicans Withdraw Endorsement of Crist
  By Origanalist
•Dufus Brain: Yes, We Are Talking...
 Re: Wash Times: Nelson Sold His Soul On Abortion Amendment
  By K.G.
•Dufus Brain
 Re: You Will Subsidize Abortion
  By K.G.
•Truce
 Re: Wash Times: Nelson Sold His Soul On Abortion Amendment
  By Dufas_Brainard
•Deapthroat
 Re: Wash Times: Nelson Sold His Soul On Abortion Amendment
  By Dufas_Brainard
•Long bloody trail
 Re: You Will Subsidize Abortion
  By Dufas_Brainard
•The Left Is Breaking Our Long-Held...
 Re: You Will Subsidize Abortion
  By K.G.
•Based on the knowledge I had
 Re: Michael Steele Taking Money For Speeches
  By ncjack
•Right Eugene...
 Re: "Boneheaded Health Bill," and if Nelson "reversed" his vote once, he can do it again...
  By Baby Karl
•Truce
 Re: You Will Subsidize Abortion
  By Dufas_Brainard
•"take up armed action"
 Re: You Will Subsidize Abortion
  By cottoneyed

The Latest on Town HallThe Latest on Town Hall

Blog Roll Blog Roll