Fishpasta vs Doctor Professor Chris Weaver - Is Gay Sex Morally Permissible? 2010

PLUS UPDATE

This debate ( audio only | 1hr 46m 42s ) took place on the long since defunct Urban Philosophy site and was between Fishpasta and Doctor Professor Chris Weaver. The topic was whether gay sex was morally permissible.

5+ stars: Okay not really that many stars but this debate is just too funny to not make a post about it.

I came across this debate in a discussion with some pals about the Craig Carroll debate. Weaver reviewed Carroll's comso model and Craig cited him in his rebuttal. I was then told this debate was really funny. And it was.

The first thing to notice is that it wasn't a debate on same-sex marriage or homosexuality in general - it was about gay sex. Furthermore, this wasn't just any entry-level-defined gay sex --oh no. At the start of the debate Weaver lays out his definition gay sex that needs to be stated to fully appreciate.

By gay sex Weaver means

"Some human person X performs a conglomeration of actions Y1 through Yn which can correctly be described as gay sex when X is paired with at least one human person Z of the same gender and at least X intentionally and consensually (Z also consenting) either (a) uses his penis to penetrate the rectum of Z, in this case another male, sometimes repeatedly, until X experiences sexual climax and ejaculation; (b) uses her vagina to perform instrumental indentation on the body of Z, in this case another female, until X experiences sexual climax which incorporates a particular pleasurable series of mental states causally connected to the stimulation of the clitoris."

Already this is one of the best debates I've heard, ever.

Each speaker got 15 minute openings then 7 minutes each of cross ex followed by 10 minute rebuttals and 5 minute closings.

Fishpasta went first and sans a weirdly deliberate affirmation of logical positivism, it was a great opening.

Fish gave 11 different normative ethical frameworks, defining them and then arguing how gay sex is morally permissible on each ethical account. Some of them were rather silly frameworks like Sartes' Existentialist Ethics (any rationalizations about what is right/wrong are immoral for innately denying one's responsibility to choose as a human. Most critiques of gay sexin' are rationalizations according to this ethical system based off of cultural/religious traditions but not a person's own formulations making it immoral to claim gay sex is morally wrong). However he gave nice succinct descriptions of utilitarian, deontological, and contractarian ethical systems and argued that gay sex was totally cool in each moral framework.

Fish also mentioned empirical findings and preempted arguments from harm (gay sex is immoral because of the harm unprotected sex causes - more prone to contract HIV but soccer players are also more likely to contract HIV by playing soccer so is soccer immoral?) plus Weaver's Kantian ethical view of choice.

Weaver started out mentioning issues about gay sex, his belief that Fishpasta muddled philosophical concepts and then gave his first argument against gay sex - the Modal Ontological Argument for Theism. After this, Weaver critiqued Fishpasta's affirmation of bundle theory for some reason. Weaver ran out of time before he could give his other argument against gay sex - that Jesus rose bodily from the dead.

Herein lies the answer to the gay sex riddle.

The cross-ex was muddled for both sides. Fish attempted to ask Weaver if he felt his personal convictions supersede logical argumentation which seemed to confuse Weaver. Much of Fish's cross was Weaver wanting more clarification. Weaver decided to critique Fishpasta's position of logical positivism in a way that incidentally had nothing to do with gay sex.

Weaver then requested more time to lay out his case and it was decided that he could split his rebuttal up and then he spent 5 minutes arguing for the historical accuracy of the bible.

Fishpasta again nailed his rebuttal by noting that Weaver failed to address his arguments and only proffered arguments against things irrelevant to the topic. He also pointed out that the Modal Ontological Argument only gets us to deism and not Christian theism. He then noted that showing the historicity of the bible doesn't help his case too much because Paul wasn't an ethicist. Weaver wasted his other five minutes correcting Fish for saying his argument was analytic when it's only propositions that can be analytic - this had something to do with gay sex, I'm sure.

Both closed and it seemed like Fish was running out of steam and Weaver was trying some analytic-modal semantic presentation of the Chewbacca defense or something.

Even during the informal Q&A Weaver fixated on tackling Fishpasta's adherence to bundle theory...

Every ounce of Weaver's case was as if he wanted to parody analytic philosophy. The fact that he was serious just added to all the other funny stuff about the debate. I am surprised at the level of sophistication in the debate on both sides. Fish explained a bunch of interesting ethical frameworks and Weaver's critique of bundle theory sounded intriguing if absolutely irrelevant.

Philosophers like Kant, Anscombe, and Rawls were thrown into the mix along with a lot of philo jargon. I heard, mutatis mutandis, salva veritate, relata, a fortitori, eo ipso just to name a few terms.

Weaver warned several times that the debate shouldn't be recorded but obviously it was because I just heard it. It seems like Weaver is an intense guy and known for making similar proclamations. Since the debate happened awhile ago I'm posting a link to the recording but it might not last for long.

Concerning the definition of Gay Sex

After heated discussion with some friends several problems have been pointed out in Weaver's definition. The most striking problem is that Gay Sex is only that which features consenting participants. Why is it that non-consensual gay sex is left out?

Another issue is that it seems like loopholes can be easily exploited - there's more to gay sex than just anal or clitoral stimulation. It also makes one wonder if Weaver took the time to research all the various types of gay sex - the internet has extensive information on the issue.

Also, the causal chain for the lesbian situation could never obtain - does this mean that it's no longer gay sex? I can ask this question after each point but it could just be that Weaver is only against THIS specific type of gay sex. Now this is especially puzzling because if anything the definition describes a pretty positive type of sexin' - consensual and often climaxes obtain.

Finally, the definition is hilariously weird.

UPDATE

Sorry for rarely updating - I've been busy with real life AND practicing my own debatin' abilities. The latter has led to a major interest in philosophy because it seems that knowing a lot about that topic makes informal debating more effective. As a consequence, my views have changed or rather, I think my justification/strategy to support those views have shifted substantially. So if I get back into this blog expect a lot of rewording in the previous reviews, though I don't think that the scores or overall thoughts will be changed.

PZ v Simmons BEST FUN TOP TEN

This debate ( audio | 43m31s ) took place early in 2008 between outspoken New Atheist PZ Myers and the forgettable anti-Evolutionist Dr. Geoffrey Simmons on KKMS radio. The title of the debate was "Are Darwin's Theories Fact or Faith Issues" and it was pretty fun!

DB: 3m48s

5 stars. BEST FUN TOP TEN

Apparently before the debate the debate topic was changed to the subject I mentioned above and this pissed PZ off most thoroughly. PZ sounds pretty angry on his blog but sounds like a giant teddy bear IRL but in the beginning of the debate he sounded like an adorably angry teddy bear at the change. I won't explain why he was angry because he does so, thoroughly.

Another thorough part of the debate was the destruction of Dr. Geoffry Simmons. The guy was simply not prepared and spewed the most pedestrian of Creationist arguments out there to which PZ devastated. I recall reading about this debate and read that even the anti-evo folk over at William Dembski's Uncommon Descent site were remarking at how terrible Simmons did in this debate.

This is too fun 'a debate. All ya'll should check it out. It's a shame that it was so short and it was on the radio. Radio hosts seem to feel the need to summarize what one debater just said to the other debater and this is evident here and in the Unbelievable episodes as well. I can understand that they do so because it's the radio, maybe but it sometimes it seems like a waste of time and so much more could be said if they just let the debate flow. But alas, this was still a great time!

One of the best!

Technical: Great AQ, it's radio!

Hitch v Boteach DEUX BEST FUN TOP TEN

This debate ( audio | video | 1h 33m 26s ) features Hitch and Rabbi Boteach. It gets quite heated but is a lot of fun. I wish it were longer!

DB: 3m 50s

5 stars. BEST FUN TOP TEN

APF review: 2/5 and 3/5, respectively

This is too fun of a debate. Hitchens is at his prime and it’s obvious the crowd is completely with him. He doesn’t say anything unique in his opening from the dozens of other debates he’s partook in (of which there are plenty LINK), he caters to the flaws of Judaism a little more cause that guy knows his audience.

Boteach HOLY CRAP Boteach. All the desperate religious debate tactics come out of this guy. He also yells and spends a lot of time on evolution. A lot of time on evolution. He even at one point uses Kent Hovind’s argument that time is the god of atheism. He just sounds too embarrassingly uninformed on the topic and Hitch does a good job on calling him out on it. If you think I am spending too much time on Boteach’s evo argument it is because he spent so much time on it! Just remember folks, even if, EVEN IF evolution turns out to be false, it doesn’t prove there is a god.

Boteach calls Hitch out on claiming that an Israeli surgeon refused to aid Muslims and was supported by the Israeli courts and this becomes a very funny highlight of the debate.

Great debate for all the heat it generated, not the light.

Technical: Quiet AQ but there is a video too.

Christopher Hitchens vs Al Sharpton - Is God not Great? 2007 BEST FUN TOP TEN

This debate ( audio | video | transcript | 1:29.11s ) took place in 2007 between Hitch and Al Sharpton. It is one of my favorites and one of my favorites of Hitchens' specifically.

Debate begins about 5.53s in.

SOURCE.

4.5 Stars. Hitch doing what he does best, taking out the more rhetorically inclined proponents of Christianity. BEST FUN TOP TEN

OMG what fun.

Two people who love to talk and work a crowd, do so, for an hour and a half.

Hitchens goes first and doesn't present anything specifically different from all his other debates in this one, but it is one of his more fluid performances. Al Sharpton seems absolutely timid and the least confident I have ever heard him, before. Usually he's pretty slick and sometimes I rather enjoy him, tbh. Instead he comes off as meek and flimsy and fails to defend the bible at all. He tries to account for this in his second debate with Hitch, obnoxiously so...but that's another debate review.

After the opening statements, every time Hitch lists all the crappy things religion has done Sharpton just argues that said crappy things are due to a bunch of jerks in the past misinterpreting scripture and that Hitch needs to actually disprove the existence of god. This is absolute disinterest in defending scripture on the part of the reverend leads Hitch to label Sharpton an agnostic and Sharpton doesn't even seem to protest that.

It seems a bit odd now that I think about this debate after getting interested in the more intellectually dense arguments relating to theism and Christian theism...has Sharpton ever actually flat out had a debate on the existence of God? I just think it would be funny if one of the more philosophical heavy hitters like Schieber, Lowder, or Ahmed actually found themselves in a formal debate with the guy. Sharpton kept wanting to debate the existence of god...I wouldn't have mind asking him about divine lies or something...

But what am I babbling about? This debate was about who could say the more witty jab! And by gum there's nothing wrong with that kind of debate, too...ESPECIALLY if it features one of my forever heroes, Christopher Hitchens.

The debate is just too much fun and the Q&A is one of the best I've heard.

Maybe cause this is one of the most popular Hitch debates I should clarify an issue that seems to arise with complaints about the way Hitchens debates that have been made by both his opponents and audience:

Hitchens is not debating that there is no god nor is he attempting to present the classic arguments against the evidence for a god. He is just trying to show what he means by his book title: religion poisons everything. That assertion is questionable, sure, but now that you know that he isn't attempting to disprove god, you can listen to his evidence supporting that assertion, instead. If you want to hear debates arguing for atheism, don't listen to Hitchens, don't listen to Dawkins, don't listen to Harris or Dennett, get over the pop-atheists and listen to some guys who know can really present arguments on that subject. Listen to those I listed as pop-atheists for fun and the love of the debate and it'll be a better experience, trust me.

Technical 
Alright audio and video, though the audio is a little quiet, though.

Post Revision Notes
6-30-2013 I added a link to a transcript.
9-28-2013 I cleaned up some awkward sentences. 
8-15-2015 More clean upege.