Hitchens

The Guardian features a lengthy interview with Christopher Hitchens as he dies from esophageal cancer. I think it's well worth reading.

Personally, I disagree pretty strongly with many of Hitchens views:

I disagree with the modus operandi of the so-called "New Atheists" in that though I am not a believer, and often find belief in the supernatural to be at times a bit silly, I don't consider it my place to harangue others over it. It smacks of fundamentalism and I'd prefer to leave that to the crazy people.

Additionally, I certainly disagree with his continued support for the Iraq war. While I will cautiously support his position that there is an existential clash between civilization and jihadism, I reject the idea that Iraq was necessarily the place to launch the opening salvo.

That said, the value of Hitchens is precisely that: He is disagreeable. Strongly so. Inevitably so, in fact. So rooted is his character in the dialectic tradition that it seems impossible for him to not rail against the common wisdom and demand evaluation of stated positions. I can't help but think that though this might be a minimalist view of his character and positions, it is a valid one to celebrate. He insists upon the argument. He demands the questioning of everything. And having arrived at his positions, he defends them terrier like til the bitter, bitter end.

Sadly, that bitter end has clearly come. The survival rate for his illness is profoundly low. Even with that in mind though, his cancer seems to strike him as more of an inconvenience and a boredom that anything else.

The interview ends:

We continue talking for another couple of hours on everything from the Russian revolution to the Bay of Pigs, from the Spanish civil war to Tony Blair. In the end, it's only my need to catch a plane that brings the discussion to a close. With Hitchens, though, the argument will continue, first with himself and then, if need be, with the world. His intemperate style is not to everyone's tastes, but as he has often remarked, you can't produce light without heat. To those of us who admire his clarity of thought, if not always his conclusions, it is indeed a lovely light. And I'm pleased to say that on a cold November day in Tumortown, it showed little sign of fading.

I disagree with Christopher Hitchens on so very much. And it's a better world, that he invites and encourages the argument.