A Debate on the Existence of God

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First of all, I find it super interesting that we had a debate between an atheist and a believer. It just seems like with that being the two doing the debate, that it'll never get solved as they are both drastically different.

"In order to explain existence, we must come to a being which contains--within itself--the reason for its own existence, that is to say which cannot not exist."

Honestly I felt as if this debate was mostly one sided. Russell seems to stumble over his words when met with a counter argument, while Copleston is very sure of himself and what he is talking about. Especially towards the end of this, it almost feels as if Russell "dodges" topics and goes back to earlier points. Perhaps he doesn't want to think about the reality of God because it brings upon too many questions that he can find no logical answer for himself?

I commented on Will and Olivia's posts.

Comments

  1. Zelda PeachFebruary 2, 2018 at 6:09 PM

    I do not think it is exactly that he dodges questions, it is more of that he doesn't see the need to answer them. He says on mutiple occasions that he doesn't really understand why people should expect the world to have a cause or meaning so therefore the question is not vaild for him.

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  2. Natalie SchulerFebruary 2, 2018 at 8:22 PM

    I agree with Zelda. I don't think it's one sided so much as Russell pressing the other man for answers and clarification. The whole point of debates like these aren't necessarily to "win" so much as to make each other think.

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  3. Sophia ColbertFebruary 2, 2018 at 9:54 PM

    One of the reasons I liked this debate was because they weren't shouting at each other or trying to talk over each other. I remember when Ken Ham and Richard Dawkins had their big debate a few years ago. It was a huge deal to many people. I never saw it, but I don' think these types of arguments should be hyped up like that because everyone has already made up their minds before they even watch it. When the speakers are quiet and respectful of each other, the audience follows suit. Even if I disagreed with one of the speakers or was disappointed with what he said, I found myself respecting him because his opponent did. This is how debates should really work.

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  4. Brenna StringfellowFebruary 2, 2018 at 11:44 PM

    I agree I feel that Copleston did seem to have the upper hand because he was not having to go back on previous things like Russell did which ultimately got them nowhere in the debate it seemed.

    ReplyDelete

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