Famed Canadian psychologist and philosopher Jordan Peterson has recently appeared on the latest episode of the series Surrounded on the YouTube channel Jubilee. Jubilee has 10 million subscribers, and their team puts out professionally produced content on a regular schedule.
In their Surrounded series, they have one high-profile guest debating 20 people taking turns who have the opposite view.
Previously, they had conservative activist Charlie Kirk on the show, which amassed 29 million views in eight months. Meanwhile, the episode with conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro—who will be one of the featured speakers at CPAC Hungary 2025 this week—has 15 million views on their channel.
Professor Peterson took on 20 atheists in this piece, as arguably the most prominent theist philosopher of the 21st Century. It was uploaded on Sunday, 25 May and already has 1.85 million hits on YouTube.
Peterson’s first claim was: ‘Atheists reject God, but they don’t understand what they’re rejecting,’ which, as he explained, is something he observed while talking to atheists. Later, he further elucidated that, in this case, he is going by the definition given by the prophet Elijah in the Old Testament, who defined God as the guiding voice of conscience.
The second claim the guest had to defend against his debate opponents was: ‘Morality and purpose cannot be found within science.’ The first participant against the motion pointed out that there is evidence of Neanderthals caring for their ill, and chimpanzees wanting the same amount being given to them by their caretakers. However, in response, Professor Peterson claimed that this just proves that morality is intrinsic, it precedes the human understanding of science; and morality is not something that can be derived from the scientific process.
Two more claims were left to argue over on the show. First: ‘Everybody worships something, even atheists, even though they might not know it,’ then: ‘Atheists accept Christian morality, but deny the religion’s foundational stories.’ On the former question, both the professor and his first opponent agreed that all people have their own foundational values based on which they operate in their lives, which Dr Peterson considers the God they worship. On the latter question, the first debater brought up the violent acts commanded by God in the Old Testament, which led to an argument of contextual analysis of the biblical texts, our evolving understanding of God, and, ultimately, free will.
The moment that got the most attention, however, was when Professor Peterson was not willing to concede to one of his debate opponents that he is a Christian, inviting some mockery from the young man. In response, Peterson asked to end the conversation with him, even though the format typically allows for the audience to vote out the debater by a majority.
Watch Jordan Peterson’s Appearance on Jubilee’s Surrounded in Its Entirety Below:
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