This is what I posted to my Facebook page earlier today:
I’m going to go spend four hours with one of the smartest philosophers I know, after three hours with him yesterday. I may never change his mind. But we both like each other and we’re both challenging each other. His friendship is a worthy enough end, even if he never meets my savior.
Am I saying this to brag or to get a pat on the back? Nope. I’m saying this because I want you to be convinced to have relationships with people, whether or not you believe they will think more like you because of it.
I’m not going to get into the details of what happened today. My friend and I had a private debate and I’m sure both of us allowed ourselves to speculate on ideas that we haven’t fully worked out yet, and it wouldn’t be appropriate for public comment.
It looked kind of like this.
But for four hours.
What I can say is that as terrifying as it was to even privately debate a friend who is as smart as he is, who is probably in the top philosophy course in the country right now, it was so worth it. We definitely challenged each other more than I expected, in both directions. But what a joy to just spend four hours doing non-stop debate with somebody who thinks carefully and doesn’t bring in purely emotional arguments. We just vigorously attacked each other’s arguments using thought experiment after thought experiment, but in the way he says professional philosophers do that: charitably, in an informal dialogue, seriously looking for the flaws in each others views and our own views. I’m genuinely looking forward to my next opportunity with him.
In a sense, he’s my philosophical nemesis.
And he is my friend.
Josh worked in the pro-life movement starting at age 18. After 12 years of full-time pro-life work he launched Equal Rights Institute to maximize his impact on the movement.
A sought-after speaker, Josh has spoken for more than 29,000 people in six countries and in 25 of the 50 states.
Josh’s primary passion is helping pro-life people to be more persuasive when they communicate with pro-choice people. That means ditching faulty rhetoric and tactics and embracing arguments that hold up under philosophical scrutiny.
He has publicly debated leaders from Planned Parenthood, the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL), Georgians for Choice, and one of the leading abortion facilities in Atlanta.
Josh also wants to bring relational apologetics to the pro-life movement. “Some pro-choice people will not change their mind after one conversation on a college campus. Some of them will only change their mind after dozens of conversations with a person they trust in the context of friendship.”
Josh is formerly the host of a globally-heard podcast turned radio/TV show, Life Report and the Equipped for Life Podcast. He’s also written dozens of articles for LifeNews.com and the ERI blog. He has been interviewed by the Washington Post, NPR, and Focus on the Family.
He directed the first 40 Days for Life campaign in Fresno, resulting in up to 60 lives saved.
Josh has been happily married to his wife, Hannah, for 19 years. They have three sons, Noah, William, and Eli. They live in Charlotte, North Carolina.