The Big Conversation

What are the psychological roots of faith beliefs? Can we make our own rules for life or are we subject to a higher level of meaning? Can we dispense with religion as a ‘virus of the mind’, or are even atheists fundamentally religious deep down? Jordan B Peterson and Susan Blackmore debate these questions and more in the first episode of The Big Conversation. Jordan B Peterson has become a popular public intellectual in recent years for his popular online lectures and his stance against political correctness. The Canadian psychology professor has also debated influential atheists on the value of religious belief, a theme which features prominently in his bestselling book 12 Rules for Life : An Antidote to Chaos. Susan Blackmore is a psychologist, lecturer and author of books including The Meme Machine and Seeing Myself: the new science of out of body experiences. She views many forms of religion as fundamentally negative for human flourishing and has written that: “religions are an example, par excellence, of memeplexes that use wicked tricks to ensure their own survival.” Their conversation ranges across the benefits and problems of religion, the new atheism, cultural memes, meaning and Peterson's own increasingly strong regard for historic Christianity and the value of Bible stories.

Are science, humanism and ongoing moral progress the result of an atheistic Enlightenment philosophy, or the product of a Judaeo-Christian worldview? Steven Pinker is professor of psychology at Harvard University whose work spans, sociology, evolution, language and philosophy. His latest book Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism and Progress makes the case that human progress has never been greater and we need to guard against unscientific ways of thinking, including religion, to see it continue. Nick Spencer is research director at Theos and the author of books such as The evolution of the West: How Christianity has shaped our Values. He believes that while the story of progress may be true, modern thinkers fail to realise how indebted western values of equality, democracy and science are to Christianity.

People in the West increasingly identify as ‘nones’ – having no religious commitments. But where does meaning and happiness come from in the absence of God? Is the story of Jesus Christ still relevant to people searching for meaning in a modern world? Derren Brown is an illusionist and mentalist, famous for his TV and stage shows. He’s also an author of books such as Tricks of the Mind, which both reveal his love of stagecraft and psychology and tell the story of how he lost his faith in Christianity as a young adult. His latest book Happy: Why more or less everything is absolutely fine brings the wisdom of Greek stoic philosophy to bear on how to lead a content, fulfilled and meaningful life. Rev Richard Coles is a priest in the Church of England and a well-known media figure on radio and TV. He presents Radio 4’s Saturday Live show and has starred programmes such as Strictly Come Dancing. He also had a highly successfully (and often wild) pop career as part of The Communards. He’s told the story of his Christian conversion in books such as Fathomless Riches and Bringing in the Sheaves. He argues that following Christ won’t necessarily bring happiness, but has personally found it to be the path to ultimate meaning.

Has science replaced God as an explanation for life and the Universe? Or has the rise of New Atheism sold the evidence for God short? John Lennox is professor of mathematics at the University of Oxford and a well-known Christian thinker and speaker. He is the author or books such as God’s Undertaker: Has science buried God? and Gunning for God: Why the New Atheists are missing the target. He argues that science and our increasing knowledge of cosmology and biology has increasingly pointed towards the existence of a divine mind. Michael Ruse is professor of philosophy of science at Florida State University. He has published books including Atheism: What Everyone Needs to Know and Darwinism as Religion: What Literature Tells Us about Evolution. An atheist himself, he is nevertheless critical of the New Atheist movement represented by figures such as Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris, believing that a better conversation between faith and science is possible. The 4th episode of The Big Conversation series with Prof John Lennox and Prof Michael Ruse was recorded with a live audience at One Birdcage Walk in London on 18th July!

The human brain is an amazingly complex organ. But can a naturalistic worldview account for the nature of consciousness? And if we live in a physically determined universe, can we speak of free will? Daniel C Dennett is Professor of Philosophy at Tufts University,USA and a leading naturalist voice in the philosophy of mind. His books include Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon and From Bacteria to Bach and Back: The Evolution of Minds. Dennett has been counted among the four so-called ‘horsemen of the new atheism’. He believes that brains, mind and consciousness can be explained in purely material terms. Keith Ward is a British philosopher and former Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford University as well as being an ordained priest in the Church of England. His books include Why There Almost certainly is a God and More than Matter. Ward holds to an idealist view of the mind, believing that consciousness is the primary reality upon which the material world is dependent and that our existence as conscious self-aware creatures is dependent on an ultimate mind - God.

What is the basis for the value we ascribe to human life? How should we treat animals, the unborn and the profoundly disabled? Are rights grounded in our cognitive capacities and abilities or based in an inherent value that comes from a transcendent source? Peter Singer is professor of bioethics at Princeton University and a noted moral philosopher. He is the author of books such as Animal Liberation, Practical Ethics and The Life You Can Save. Peter is an atheist and has argued that our view of morality and human value should not be driven by religious views about the sanctity of life, but by the ability of any living thing to have preferences and cognitive faculties. Andy Bannister is a Christian thinker and speaker with Solas Centre for Public Christianity and author of the book The Atheist Who Didn't Exist: Or The Dreadful Consequences of Bad Arguments. He believes that morality and human value are tied to the fact that humans are created in God's image. He believes that, while Singer’s viewpoint is consistent with his atheism, it has a chilling consequences for our commitment to human rights.