Monday, November 05, 2007

Debate with John West in Seattle

The Intercollegiate Studies Institute is sponsoring a debate on Darwinian conservatism between me and John West. The debate will be in Seattle at Seattle Pacific University, November 15, at 7:30 pm in Demaray Hall 150.

I have written a number of blog posts in response to West's book Darwin's Conservatives, which is a detailed critique of my Darwinian Conservatism.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

And see how charming and graceful is his expression of gratitude for your endorsement of his book and your engagement of him in debate!

"Unfortunately, Arnhart has a habit of misrepresenting my actual positions, and so he often ends up attacking a straw man. (He’s done the same thing to historian Richard Weikart.) Arnhart is at it again, attacking my book Darwin Day in America on his blog for a position it doesn’t even uphold. ... From some of Arnhart’s other comments, it’s not clear to me how much of my book he really read. ... this isn’t the first time Arnhart has misrepresented my positions in order to attack a straw man. ... I’m beginning to wonder whether Arnhart attacks a straw man version of my arguments because he really has no serious critique to offer to them. Or perhaps his Darwinist friends have abused him for initially praising my book, and so he feels compelled to do penance. ... Such garden-variety Darwinist rhetoric used to be beneath Arnhart. But I guess he has `evolved.’"