In his Daily Telegraph blog, Damian Thompson has revealed that Christopher Hitchens' throat cancer is terminal and that he does not expect to live long. The Hitch has written at length about his illness in the next issue of Vanity Fair. By all accounts, the approach of death has not mellowed him.
Discuss this post at the Quodlibeta Forum
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Welcome to Quodlibeta
The Latin word Quodlibeta means "whatever you like" and refers to the special occasions at medieval universities when the students (or clerks as they were known) could test their masters by asking any question they fancied. This blog is primarily concerned with religion, science, history and their interface. But like the medieval clerks, we reserve the right to post on anything we want.
Meet the Clerks
James Hannam
I am a historian of the relationship between science and religion, and also write on the UK tax system. My first book was published as God's Philosophers: How the Medieval World Laid the Foundations of Modern Science in the UK and The Genesis of Science: How the Christian Middle Ages Launched the Scientific Revolution in the US. My apologetics website is Bede's Library. I am also the author What Everyone Needs to Know about Tax and write about tax at my other blog. I can be found on Twitter as @DrJamesHannam.
Humphrey Clarke
I am a historian of a very middling and amateurish sort. Having taken a Masters in Modern History at the University of St Andrews (2004), I completed a law conversion course at Nottingham Law School and embarked upon what has been an exciting career in legal technology. My chief interests are in Twentieth Century History, Colonial America, Historiography and, most recently, the History of Science. I also write a satirical blog at The Diary of Humphrey Clarke. I hope my contributions to Quodlibeta capture something of the pleasure I get from trawling my dusty collection of second hand history books.
Jim S
I have a Ph.D. in Philosophy and Master's degrees in Philosophy and Theology. I'm a generalist, my areas of expertise being epistemology, logic, philosophy of mind, philosophy of religion, and science and religion. I did my philosophical studies in Continental Europe, and currently reside in the Pacific Northwest. I also write the Agent Intellect blog. In my mid-20s I decided to refute Christianity to set my conscience at ease. Two subjects I turned to in particular were science and philosophy. I accidentally argued myself into it.
I am a historian of the relationship between science and religion, and also write on the UK tax system. My first book was published as God's Philosophers: How the Medieval World Laid the Foundations of Modern Science in the UK and The Genesis of Science: How the Christian Middle Ages Launched the Scientific Revolution in the US. My apologetics website is Bede's Library. I am also the author What Everyone Needs to Know about Tax and write about tax at my other blog. I can be found on Twitter as @DrJamesHannam.
Humphrey Clarke
I am a historian of a very middling and amateurish sort. Having taken a Masters in Modern History at the University of St Andrews (2004), I completed a law conversion course at Nottingham Law School and embarked upon what has been an exciting career in legal technology. My chief interests are in Twentieth Century History, Colonial America, Historiography and, most recently, the History of Science. I also write a satirical blog at The Diary of Humphrey Clarke. I hope my contributions to Quodlibeta capture something of the pleasure I get from trawling my dusty collection of second hand history books.
Jim S
I have a Ph.D. in Philosophy and Master's degrees in Philosophy and Theology. I'm a generalist, my areas of expertise being epistemology, logic, philosophy of mind, philosophy of religion, and science and religion. I did my philosophical studies in Continental Europe, and currently reside in the Pacific Northwest. I also write the Agent Intellect blog. In my mid-20s I decided to refute Christianity to set my conscience at ease. Two subjects I turned to in particular were science and philosophy. I accidentally argued myself into it.
Subscribe Now: Feed Icon
Fellow Clerks
Favourite Blogs
Blog Archive
-
▼
2010
(87)
-
▼
August
(12)
- Roods, Blood and Bodies
- Royal Society Prize for Science Books 2010
- Quote of the Day
- Evolution and Information Theory
- Did Christianity Spell the End of Classical Civili...
- Group selection: why I now think it is important
- Religious SF
- More Sad News
- 2010 Faraday Lectures
- Royal Excess
- My week at the Faraday Institute for Science and R...
- Sad News
-
▼
August
(12)
11 comments:
I find it difficult to feel any sympathy for the man.
That, Anon, is part of the reason that Christianity is a hard school. The Hitch can indulge in his hatreds. Christians should not.
Well this is terrible news. He is always a roliking good read. Hope there is some kind of remission and we get many more years of him. After all Dan Dennett was nearly dead back in 2006 but he came back and is still keeping us entertained to this day.
Here is the Vanity Fair piece:
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2010/09/hitchens-201009
Well reading the article, things don't look quite bad. The cancer has spread but he is undergoing treatment. It certainly does not look like the end of the road as yet.
The prognosis isn't good for this type of cancer and it seems to have spread to one of his lungs and the lymph nodes. It sounds pretty bad but you wouldn't write the guy off.
Well, we all have to go sometime. Still, Hitchens ain't dead yet, so he still has some hope.
I do hope Mr Hitchens pulls through and has more years to come. He is an interesting character and has provided and provoked some interesting dialogues in the public square. Although many times conspicuous in his contempt for religious belief he is often gracious and charitable and i'm sure delightful in person.
my prayers are with him.
As someone who has worked in Oncology for a bit, a tumour which relapses and spreads to both nodes and distant sites (lungs in this case) does not have a good outlook. Much as I do wish to give the man a good slap, I still feel sympathy for him as he's in for an uncomfortable ride.
As much as I disagree with Hitchens (both politically and philosophically, I am saddened by this news.
He was an interesting writer, and as I have lost family to cancer before, I also sympathize with his pain.
He is in my prayers.
This is truly grieving. I wish that Hitchens defeats his cancer, at least to see his children get married.
If he survives, I hope this will soften his view on religion and cause him to think more about existential questions, which seculars always put under their mental carpet.
Post a Comment