![]() ![]() I have found, in dealing with New Atheist writers, that they tend to focus almost obsessively really on a small set of arguments for religious belief. That’s part of what’s distinctive of New Atheists. The tendency to attack straw men and attack caricatures and not do your basic homework before you attack religion has now become a more widespread phenomenon than it was in earlier generations. Of course, atheists of the past have sometimes been prone to that as well, but part of what makes the New Atheist movement different from previous generations of atheists is that it’s become something of a mass-movement. But New Atheist writers tend not to do that. Any philosopher knows that when you’re dealing with critics or opponents, you always want to take them on at their strongest point. They tend to attack ‘straw men’ and take their opponents on at their weakest points, rather than their strongest points. Why do you think that is?įor one thing, the New Atheist writers tend not to know a whole lot about the ideas that they are criticising. In particular, you have regarded the writers as being intellectually shallow in their treatment of religious belief. In your book The Last Superstition, you have been a very vocal critic of the ‘New Atheism’ movement. Foreign Policy & International Relations. ![]()
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