Prof. Richard Dawkins and Archbishop Rowan Williams
It was perhaps long overdue. The stage was set for a showdown between one of the greatest minds in the Church of England and Britain’s most famous atheist. Some even pitched the event as a philosophical / theological Frazer and Ali type match. The subject of the debate between Archbishop Rowan Williams and Prof. Richard Dawkins last February was the nature of human beings and the question of our ultimate origins. When all came to all though it was a pretty civilised affair, where biting invective was replaced by reflective banter. Afterwards The Guardian newspaper was at pains to state that there were no major punches landed between the two, which probably goes to show how well Archbishop Williams did!
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The referee in this intellectual bout was Sir Anthony Kenny, a former Catholic priest, who now describes himself as a philosopher and an agnostic. The debate ranged across a variety of issues like life after death, evolution and scripture and the nature of humanity. However the most interesting point I found was made before the discussion began at all.
At the beginning Sir Kenny, in setting out the terms of the debate, sought agreement on three ‘very simple things.’ Firstly there was such a thing as objective truth and that it was not simply an ideological construct. Secondly that they all believed in logic. And thirdly that they all believe in science. While I expected general consensus by both parties around the contribution of both science and logic the agreement by Prof. Dawkins around objective truth was fascinating. These days we are told that truth is a relative concept. The notion of anything like object truth appeals to divine authority, an idea which does not sit easily with many secular atheists. Indeed if there is an objective truth where is it drawn from?
Truth Expels Ignorance - The painting on the ceiling of Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford University
Philosophically we can look to the writings of Plato and work our way up to the present day. But where is it’s application to morality. Is there such a thing as objective moral truth? It is interesting that the painting on the ceiling of the Sheldonian Theatre, where the debate took place, depicts an allegorical scene of Truth descending upon the Arts and Sciences to expel ignorance from the University. It’s clear that for Archbishop Williams that there is such a truth and it comes from God. One can’t help but wonder where the objective truth of Prof. Dawkins comes from.