I”m ploughing my way through Richard Dawkins The God Delusion. I have a soft spot for Richard because his The Selfish Gene was a major part of my final degree thesis. I don’t agree with Richard’s entire thinking but that’s for another day. What is much more entertaining and instructive is the discussion going on over at The Edge between Dan Dennett and H.Allen Orr:
Dan:
You leveled very serious charges of error and incomprehension in that review, and when I challenged them, you responded with a haughty dismissal of my objections (in an exchange in the Boston Review).
Allen:
Daniel Dennett seems to think that the author of any review he doesn’t like is obliged to spend the rest of his days debating him— even if the review in question was of someone else’s book, not his.
It doesn’t matter whether you sit on one or other side of this divide. What matters is the sharpness of the debate. Sharp is important.
Aside: And you thought CrunchNotes was fun?
Endnote: Sage is safe. -:)
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