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Christopher Hitchens

Christopher Hitchens
Hitchens speaking from a lectern
Hitchens in 2007
Born
Christopher Eric Hitchens

(1949-04-13)13 April 1949
Portsmouth, Hampshire, England
Died15 December 2011(2011-12-15) (aged 62)
Houston, Texas, US
EducationBalliol College, Oxford (BA)
Spouses
  • Eleni Meleagrou
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1981; div. 1989)​
  • Carol Blue
    ​
    (m. 1991)​
    [1]
Children3
Relatives
EraContemporary
Notable ideas
Hitchens's razor
Citizenship
  • United Kingdom
  • United States (from 2007)
Political partyLabour
(1965–1967)
International Socialists (1967–1971)
Websitechristopherhitchens.net
Signature

Christopher Eric Hitchens (13 April 1949 – 15 December 2011) was a British and American author, journalist, and educator.[2][3] Author of 18 books on faith, culture, politics and literature, he was born and educated in Britain, graduating in the 1970s from Oxford with a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. In the early 1980s, he emigrated to the United States and wrote for The Nation and Vanity Fair. Known as "one of the 'four horsemen'" (along with Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and Daniel Dennett) of New Atheism, he gained prominence as a columnist and speaker. His epistemological razor, which states that "what can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence", is still of mark in philosophy and law.[4][5]

Hitchens's political views evolved greatly throughout his life.[6] Originally describing himself as a democratic socialist,[7] he was a member of various socialist organisations in his early life, including the Trotskyist International Socialists.[8] He was critical of aspects of American foreign policy, including its involvement in Vietnam, Chile and East Timor. However, he also supported the United States in the Kosovo War. Hitchens emphasised the centrality of the American Revolution and Constitution to his political philosophy.[9] Hitchens held complex views on abortion; being ethically opposed to it in most instances, and believing that a foetus was entitled to personhood, while holding ambiguous, changing views on its legality.[10] He allegedly supported gun rights and supported same-sex marriage, while opposing the war on drugs.[11][12] Beginning in the 1990s, and particularly after 9/11, his politics were widely viewed as drifting to the right, but Hitchens objected to being called conservative.[6][13][14] During the 2000s, he argued for the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, endorsed the re-election campaign of US President George W. Bush in 2004, and viewed Islamism as the principal threat to the Western world.[15][16]

Hitchens described himself as an anti-theist and saw all religions as false, harmful, and authoritarian.[17] He argued for free expression, scientific discovery, and the separation of church and state, arguing that they were superior to religion as an ethical code of conduct for human civilisation. Hitchens notably wrote critical biographies of Catholic nun Mother Teresa in The Missionary Position, President Bill Clinton in No One Left To Lie To, and American diplomat Henry Kissinger in The Trial of Henry Kissinger. Hitchens died from complications related to oesophageal cancer in December 2011, at the age of 62.[18]

  1. ^ Woo, Elaine (15 December 2011). "Christopher Hitchens dies at 62; engaging author and essayist". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 11 November 2012. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  2. ^ "'God is Not Great' Author Christopher Hitchens on Religion, Iraq, and His Own Reputation – New York Magazine – Nymag". 26 April 2007. Archived from the original on 19 April 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  3. ^ "Author Christopher Hitchens targets God and faith". Reuters. 18 June 2007. Archived from the original on 19 April 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  4. ^ "What does 'Hitchens' razor' means in Philosophy?". The Hindu. 17 December 2017. Archived from the original on 19 April 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  5. ^ Ratcliffe, Susan, ed. (2016). Oxford Essential Quotations: Facts (4 ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191826719. Archived from the original on 26 September 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2020 – via "Oxford Reference" website. What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence.
  6. ^ a b Pallardy, Richard (9 April 2022). "Christopher Hitchens". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 23 November 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022. After the September 11 attacks of 2001, Hitchens was widely perceived as having migrated to the right on the political spectrum, actively campaigning for the invasion of Iraq and deposal of Saddam Hussein and endorsing George W. Bush in the 2004 US presidential election. Hitchens dropped his column for The Nation in 2002. He maintained that the shifts in his political allegiances were motivated by the right's stronger and more-interventionist stance against what he deemed "fascism with an Islamic face."
  7. ^ Christopher Hitchens – Charlie Rose, archived from the original on 3 October 2021, retrieved 3 October 2021
  8. ^ Seymour, Richard (27 March 2012). "The late Christopher Hitchens". International Socialism (134). Archived from the original on 20 November 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  9. ^ Hitchens, Christopher (2002), Why Orwell Matters, Basic Books, pg 105
  10. ^ Hitchens, Christopher (5 December 2019). "A Left-Wing Atheist's Case Against Abortion". Crisis Magazine. Sophia Institute Press. Archived from the original on 26 November 2022. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  11. ^ Carter, Graydon (17 December 2021). "Christopher Hitchens Was Fearless". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 26 November 2022. ..., I asked him if he'd be up for writing a column on gun control. He told me that he'd love to. But he wanted to let me know up front that he was opposed to controls.
  12. ^ Hitchens, Christopher (12 October 2009). "Legalize It". Foreign Policy. Archived from the original on 26 November 2022. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  13. ^ Anthony, Andrew (17 September 2005). "The big showdown". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Archived from the original on 28 February 2023. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  14. ^ Staff (13 December 2021). "Why Christopher Hitchens Still Matters". Areo. Archived from the original on 26 November 2022. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  15. ^ Parker, Ian (16 October 2006). "He Knew He Was Right: How a former socialist became the Iraq war's fiercest defender". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 6 April 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  16. ^ Hitchens, Christopher (31 October 2004). "Christopher Hitchens: Why I'm voting for Bush (but only just)". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 23 November 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  17. ^ Hitchens, Christopher (2005). Letters to a Young Contrarian. Basic Books. pp. 55, 57. ISBN 0465030335. I am [not a] part of the generalised agnosticism of our culture. I am not even an atheist so much as I am an anti-theist... all religions are versions of the same untruth... the influence of churches, and the effect of religious belief, is positively harmful... cradle-to-grave divine supervision; a permanent surveillance and monitoring... I am [not] privy to the secrets of the universe or its creator... even [the best of the theisms] are complicit in this quiet and irrational authoritarianism.
  18. ^ Video: Christopher Hitchens (14 August 1995) appearance on C-SPAN on YouTube

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