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Copleston–Russell debate

Copleston–Russell debate
Honourable Bertrand Russell.jpg: Photographer not identified derivative work: Conquistador · Public domain · source

Overview

The Copleston–Russell debate is an exchange concerning the existence of God between Frederick Copleston and Bertrand Russell broadcast on the BBC Third Programme on 28 January 1948 and again in April 1959. The debate centers on two points: the metaphysical and moral arguments for the existence of God. According to Graham Oppy and Nick Trakakis, the arguments used in this debate would typify the arguments presented by theists and atheists in the latter half of the 20th century, with Russell's approach often being used by atheists in the late 20th century.

A text of the broadcast solicited by Michael Polanyi appeared in the final Autumn 1948 issue of the short-lived Humanitas, A University Quarterly journal. This was reprinted in the British edition of Russell's Why I Am Not A Christian and Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects (1957) and in numerous anthologies since.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).

Possible passages

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  1. This omission has had a very great effect upon philosophy; it is hardly too much to say that most metaphysics, since Spinoza, has been largely determined by it. The way this has occurred is, in outline, as follows: Speaking generally, adjectives and common nouns express qualities or properties of single things, whereas prepositions and verbs tend to express relations between two or more things. Thus the neglect of…

    Bertrand Russell, The Problems of Philosophy

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  2. Moncure Conway, in whose honour we are assembled to-day, devoted his life to two great objects: freedom of thought and freedom of the individual. In regard to both these objects, something has been gained since his time, but something also has been lost. New dangers, somewhat different in form from those of past ages, threaten both kinds of freedom, and unless a vigorous and vigilant public opinion can be aroused in…

    Bertrand Russell, Free Thought and Official Propaganda

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  3. These are the two elements, abstract identity, on one hand, which is spoken of in this place as the notion; and Being on the other,--which Reason seeks to unify. And their union is the _Ideal_ of Reason. 50.] To carry out this unification two ways or two forms are admissible. Either we may begin with Being and proceed to the _abstraction_ of Thought: or the movement may begin with the abstraction and end in Being…

    Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, The Logic of Hegel

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Related ideas

Place in the tradition

Part of Frederick Copleston.

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