Christopher Hitchens, writer, journalist, and contributing editor to Vanity Fair, Slate and other publications, has died at 62 from complications of esophageal cancer. He was being treated at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, at the time of his death.
It is my view that Hitchens was the last genuine, authentic, uncompromisingly and perfectionistic classical liberal. From John Locke to John Stuart Mill, the classical liberal stood for rational empiricism, for equality before the law for all sentient creatures, for the strict responsibilities of parenthood (rather like a leasehold for stewarding priceless assets) and for the advance of scientific knowledge liberated and expanded by an understanding – a thorough understanding! – of the humanities. The very last link at the bottom of this post consists of reminiscences of another reporter -- who remembers Hitchens instant, encyclopedic knowledge of English literature.
Hitchens was a graduate of Balliol College at Oxford, from whence his exquisitely precise prose was honed. It also gave him the experience of performing ruthlessly thorough and unbiased research, a talent particularly manifest in the essays and books he wrote. And what books! He wrote one that indicted Henry Kissinger, a tome bristling with footnotes. The absurd adult lives of Bill and Hillary Clinton, who pranced about in Arkansas and then in Washington a few short steps from grand jury investigation for decades (No One Left to Lie To) is a classic full of ugly laughs. He even took on the puffy reputation of Mother Theresa!
Arguably: Essays by Christopher Hitchens is a remarkable book even for Hitchens, a large summary collection of his best later essays. He even takes on the irrational beliefs of other liberals about the political left itself, particularly in his sterling insights into the disarray of the political left in Europe since a meeting in Vienna in 1927 and the effects of that schism on the Nazis and the Soviet communists – no modern liberal would have written about this so bitingly and incisively.
Hitchens became famous in the last decade of his life for his views contrary to religion, especially the three Abrahamic religions. Rather than quote his own inflammatory statements in this area, let me simply state a view he certainly held, which was splendidly summarized by John Horgan in Slate: "All religions…stem from our narcissistic wish to believe that the universe was created for our benefit, as a stage for our spiritual quests." Hitchens would agree, and, notably, he did not himself turn to faith in his last days.
I think that the death of Christopher Hitchens has repercussions. He was a valiant and persistent critic of people and ideas that deserve close and unbiased examination. For at least that talent, he will be sorely missed.
Much more on Hitchens at:
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/cutline/christopher-hitchens-dies-62-051006229.html;_ylt=AvU_UdsJEJ0fNqst70BcaS2XCMZ_;_ylu=X3oDMTFnb25kdGRhBG1pdANCbG9nIEluZGV4IGJ5IEJsb2cEcG9zAzIxBHNlYwNNZWRpYUJsb2dJbmRleA--;_ylg=X3oDMTFvcGs0cnBnBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANibG9nBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25zBHRlc3QD;_ylv=3#more-25953
and at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Hitchens
Funny article about what it was like to share a tiny office with Christopher Hitchens in New York during the 1980s:
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fighting_words/2011/12/christopher_hitchens_death_david_corn_on_sharing_a_tiny_office_with_hitchens_.html
And from a journalist who was in Kuwait and Iraq with Hitchens:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/hitchless-world_613396.html
It is my view that Hitchens was the last genuine, authentic, uncompromisingly and perfectionistic classical liberal. From John Locke to John Stuart Mill, the classical liberal stood for rational empiricism, for equality before the law for all sentient creatures, for the strict responsibilities of parenthood (rather like a leasehold for stewarding priceless assets) and for the advance of scientific knowledge liberated and expanded by an understanding – a thorough understanding! – of the humanities. The very last link at the bottom of this post consists of reminiscences of another reporter -- who remembers Hitchens instant, encyclopedic knowledge of English literature.
Hitchens was a graduate of Balliol College at Oxford, from whence his exquisitely precise prose was honed. It also gave him the experience of performing ruthlessly thorough and unbiased research, a talent particularly manifest in the essays and books he wrote. And what books! He wrote one that indicted Henry Kissinger, a tome bristling with footnotes. The absurd adult lives of Bill and Hillary Clinton, who pranced about in Arkansas and then in Washington a few short steps from grand jury investigation for decades (No One Left to Lie To) is a classic full of ugly laughs. He even took on the puffy reputation of Mother Theresa!
Arguably: Essays by Christopher Hitchens is a remarkable book even for Hitchens, a large summary collection of his best later essays. He even takes on the irrational beliefs of other liberals about the political left itself, particularly in his sterling insights into the disarray of the political left in Europe since a meeting in Vienna in 1927 and the effects of that schism on the Nazis and the Soviet communists – no modern liberal would have written about this so bitingly and incisively.
Hitchens became famous in the last decade of his life for his views contrary to religion, especially the three Abrahamic religions. Rather than quote his own inflammatory statements in this area, let me simply state a view he certainly held, which was splendidly summarized by John Horgan in Slate: "All religions…stem from our narcissistic wish to believe that the universe was created for our benefit, as a stage for our spiritual quests." Hitchens would agree, and, notably, he did not himself turn to faith in his last days.
I think that the death of Christopher Hitchens has repercussions. He was a valiant and persistent critic of people and ideas that deserve close and unbiased examination. For at least that talent, he will be sorely missed.
Much more on Hitchens at:
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/cutline/christopher-hitchens-dies-62-051006229.html;_ylt=AvU_UdsJEJ0fNqst70BcaS2XCMZ_;_ylu=X3oDMTFnb25kdGRhBG1pdANCbG9nIEluZGV4IGJ5IEJsb2cEcG9zAzIxBHNlYwNNZWRpYUJsb2dJbmRleA--;_ylg=X3oDMTFvcGs0cnBnBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANibG9nBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25zBHRlc3QD;_ylv=3#more-25953
and at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Hitchens
Funny article about what it was like to share a tiny office with Christopher Hitchens in New York during the 1980s:
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fighting_words/2011/12/christopher_hitchens_death_david_corn_on_sharing_a_tiny_office_with_hitchens_.html
And from a journalist who was in Kuwait and Iraq with Hitchens:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/hitchless-world_613396.html
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