[T]he impression I get is that Norm is more forgiving of Eagleton’s errors of reasoning than he should be
Norm:
Damian leaves an impression about my viewpoints that I feel I have a right to comment on.
Damian:
I’d happily place a bet with Norm on which of the two of them will be considered worth reading in two hundred years’ time.But durability isn’t the point here; correctness is.
Norm:
[M]y endorsement of the passages I quote from Eagleton’s review is based on having thought about them and not on any speculative forward projection into the remote future of Dawkins’ and Eagleton’s respective reputations.
Damian:
I’m not going to persuade you or Norm to share this belief of mine
Norm:
But speaking for myself, I won’t be persuaded from the opinions that I hold on these matters by mere pejorative description.
Norm:
All I did in that post was to commend to the readers of my blog three particular themes from Eagleton’s review.
Norm:
Richard Dawkins is taking a pasting from Terry Eagleton in the LRB
One Comment
Norm also refers to Dawkins as an “in your face atheist”: Dawkins certainly has the reputation, at least, for being crude and combative.
In the first few seconds of this Google Video clip, Dawkins is seen reading an anti-Dawkins tract, before greeting and interviewing its author. Given how much of the debate about atheism has centred on Dawkin’s supposed manner, Dawkins’ country-vicar persona as shown here might come as a surprise to some:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6474278760369344626