Become a Big Think member to unlock expert classes, premium print issues, exclusive events and more: https://bigthink.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=membership&utm_content=bt-ytdesc-text-fi-symes-S8l1jGHt_PI Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvQECJukTDE2i6aCoMnS-Vg?sub_confirmation=1 Up next, The strongest arguments for and against the existence of God | Alex O'Connor: Full Interview ► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqWTlUOhowk For decades, atheists have used one move to dismantle the case for God: swap in an evil one and show that the arguments work just as well. Philosopher Jack Symes was convinced by it, and was 50,000 words into a book defending atheism when he noticed that the exercise kept tipping toward goodness. He threw out the manuscript and started over. Read the video transcript ► https://bigthink.com/series/full-interview/symes-god-atheism/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description © Freethink Media Inc., All Rights Reserved. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Web Member Get the entire Big Think Class library, premium print issues, live events, and more. https://bigthink.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=membership&utm_content=bt-ytdesc-text-fi-symes-S8l1jGHt_PI ►Subscribe to Big Think on Substack Get all of your favorite Big Think content delivered to your inbox. https://bigthinkmedia.substack.com/subscribe/ ►Listen to Big Think Interviews on Spotify Insights from the world's biggest thinkers, now as a podcast https://open.spotify.com/show/7KRYoRD1NdF2aoQcBMyPlb ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Jack Symes: Dr. Jack Symes is a philosopher at Durham University, UK. His books include Philosophers on Consciousness: Talking about the Mind (2022), Philosophers on God: Talking about Existence (2024), Defeating the Evil-God Challenge: In Defence of God’s Goodness (2024), and The Lost Philosopher: Travels Across Europe in Search of How to Live (forthcoming). Jack regularly appears on mainstream platforms, such as BBC Television, BBC Radio, The Joe Rogan Experience, Jubilee Surrounded, Piers Morgan Uncensored, Glastonbury Festival, Big Think, The Jordan Peterson Podcast, The Spectator, GB News, and HowTheLightGetsIn. He is also the host of The Panpsycast Philosophy Podcast, one of the UK’s most popular higher education podcasts. Jack regularly delivers invited lectures at leading universities, such as Harvard University, Dartmouth College, and the University of Oxford. He also speaks at international policy events, such as the World Economic Forum. In 2024, Jack was awarded the BBC New Generation Thinker Prize.