In part eight of the debate, D'Souza continues, with a return to political rhetoric.
First, he claims that Dennett tried to shift the argument he had made about the fine-tuning of the universe for life.
He corrects Dennett, saying that the argument he had put forward wasn't about why this planet was fine-tuned for life, but about why the whole universe was fine-tuned.
The only problem is that Dennett never did any such thing. He answered the entire point in terms of the whole universe, and only mentioned the planet once, in passing.
But, again, D'Souza is interested in making an impression, not advancing understanding. If he can leave the audience with the impression that Dennett was doing something slippery, it is all to his advantage.
He then proceeds to address the response that Dennett did make. He argues that it takes an enormous amount of faith to believe in millions of other universes.
It's hard to tell, at this point, whether he simply didn't understand Dennett's argument, or whether he is intentionally shifting it in order to trivialize it. It's interesting, though that he manages to do, here, exactly what he has just falsely accused Dennett of doing—and this provides another parallel to the ongoing rhetoric of the culture wars.
Dennett only said that "for all we know" there are other universes, and his argument did not require that they exist. By shifting his argument, D'Souza frames it as a rather silly piece of speculation. But, as always, he is not interested in understanding, only winning.
D'Souza then goes on to argue that, just as a car requires a car maker, the universe and its laws require some explanation.
The point is rooted in a misunderstanding of what the word "law" means in science (a point I dealt with earlier, and Dennett deals with shortly) and a rather silly notion that human artifacts are in all respects analogous to natural phenomena.
The fact that a car has to be manufactured does not mean that a deer or a cow or a planet or a galaxy—or an entire universe—must be manufactured.
If you want a fun take on this last error, you might want to read Unintelligent Design: An Interview.
Next time, Dennett replies.
