Discussions with Richard Dawkins

The Four Horsemen

Episode One

Siren Visual

R4 DVD

Web: http://www.sirenvisual.com.au

The Four Horsemen Episode One is a two hour unmoderated discussion with four well respected authors and atheists. It offers a far reaching discussion on all aspects of atheism, religious, science, education and, of course, the current political and social crises caused by terrorism and extremism. One of the first misconceptions about atheism which is immediately dispelled by this documentary is that all atheists think alike and are part of some sort of anti-religious conspiracy. Each of the members of this discussion are highly individual and each clearly has their own interpretations of atheism and their own view of the world. Richard Dawkins is the quintessential scientist, arguing from a solidly “evidence based” worldview and is passionately concerned about the danger of belief in a supernatural creator and in irrational thinking.

His primary goal is in dispelling the “God myth”. Daniel Dennett also comes from a scientific background but clearly is used to working within a “scientific academic” environment and at times seems lost in hypothetical problems and obscure issues, his focus seems to be on larger issues relating to evolution, science and atheism. Christopher Hitchens, seems to me anyway, to be the most eccentric of the lot, clearly coming from an arts and humanities background and from within journalism. Sam Harris, the youngest among them, while clearly an atheist, seems concerned that by focusing on the ideological battle of atheism itself we do not handle peripheral issues of great significance such as Jihadism in Islam and abortion or stem cell research, so has a wider focus that the other three. So while they all agree in rejecting supernaturalism and irrationalism, each has a different take on how this applies in the modern world.

This diversity of personalities and opinions make this a fascinating discussion, it is divided into two one hour sections and is worth watching over a couple of nights so you can digest each episode and perhaps debate some of the issues with your family and friends.

There is a lot of ground covered in this discussion, the first hour tends to focus on the general issues relating to atheism, ethics, religion and science, while the second focuses more on issues relating to the concept of the numinous, ethics, terrorism and related issues.

All in all, this is a fascinating discussion and offers lots of food for thought.