Alex O'Connor
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Alex O'Connor | |
|---|---|
.jpg) O'Connor in 2018 | |
| Personal information | |
| Born | 27 March 1999 |
| Education | St John's College, Oxford[citation needed] |
| Website | https://www.alexoconnor.com/ |
| YouTube information | |
| Channel | |
| Years active | 2013-present |
| Genre | religion, philosophy, morality |
| Subscribers | 1.2 million [1 February 2025][1] |
| Total views | 220.6 million [1 February 2925][1] |
| Updated 1 February 2025 | |
Alex J. O'Connor, known online by his handle CosmicSkeptic, is an English YouTuber and host of the Within Reason podcast. He primarily uploads debates and arguments about religion, philosophy, morality, and formerly veganism.[2] As of 1 February 2025, he had 1.2M subscribers, and had amassed 220.6M views on YouTube.[1]
Early life and education[edit]
Alex was born on March 27, 1999 and grew up in Blackbird Leys, Oxford, raised as a Catholic.[3][better source needed] When he first did his A-levels, he got DDDU grades. He then took them again with different subjects, and got A*AA, the grades he needed to get into the University of Oxford.[citation needed] He has since graduated from St John's College, Oxford.[clarification needed][when?][citation needed]
Career[edit]
O'Connor started his YouTube channel in 2013, and after first uploading music videos, later switched to videos on athiesm.[citation needed] In 2019 he became a vegan, and began campaigning for veganism and animal rights.[citation needed][4][better source needed] In February 2023, he announced he was no longer vegan.[5] As characterized by Pelle Axelsson of ‘’IntellectInterviews.com’’, he is a free speech advocate.[6]
Guests on his podcast have included Richard Dawkins, Douglas Murray, William Lane Craig, Peter Singer, Konstantin Kisin, and Neil deGrasse Tyson,[7][third-party source needed] and Sam Harris, Destiny, Rory Sutherland, Matt Dillahunty, and Rory Stewart.[citation needed] He has debated Ben Shapiro, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Slavoj Žižek.[citation needed] [8][better source needed]
In May 2019, O'Connor and Colin Brewer took part in a debate with Mohammed Hijab and Abdullah al Andalusi at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, organised by the Islamic Education and Research Academy (iERA),[9] which O’Connor criticised for censoring his comments, including having his microphone cut out.[citation needed]
In October 2023, O'Connor interviewed journalist and author Peter Hitchens for his Within Reason podcast, but during the recording, Hitchens walked out of the interview, stating that he did not care for the direction of the questioning, and declaring (per O’Connor) that he “decided in the past hour [he] really do not like” O’Connor, stating that “I had no opinions of you before, and now I actively dislike you."[10]
In September 2024,[citation needed] he moderated a debate between Richard Dawkins and Jordan Peterson.[11][full citation needed]
Views[edit]
O'Connor is an atheist, and rejects the notion that we have free will, reasoning that we're always doing what is in our best interest.[12][better source needed] He does not believe in objective morality, and calls himself as a descriptivist, or someone who talks about morality only in descriptive terms.[13]
Further reading[edit]
- Stuart, Verity & O’Connor, Alex (2020-01-18). "In Conversation: Alex J. O'Connor, Cosmic Skeptic". The Oxford Student. Archived from the original (longform interview, minimal fact-checked introduction) on 13 June 2024. Retrieved 2024-11-02. Unknown parameter
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References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 SB Staff (1 February 2024). "Alex O'Connor". SocialBlade.com (SB). Retrieved 1 February 2025.
- ↑ Sturge, Elliot (2020-08-08). "Cancel culture and pandemic prevention with The Cosmic Skeptic". The Oxford Blue. Retrieved 2024-11-02.
- ↑ O’Connor, Alex (27 March 2020). "21st Birthday Quarantine Livestream QnA". YouTube.[third-party source needed]
- ↑ Stuart, Verity & O’Connor, Alex (2020-01-18). "In Conversation: Alex J. O'Connor, Cosmic Skeptic". The Oxford Student. Archived from the original (longform interview, minimal fact-checked introduction) on 13 June 2024. Retrieved 2024-11-02. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help)CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)[third-party source needed] - ↑ Cockshaw, Rory (2023-02-23). "Is Veganism Healthy? A Response to Alex O'Connor (Cosmic Skeptic)". Viva! The Vegan Charity. Archived from the original on 26 May 2024. Retrieved 2024-11-02. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Axelsson, Pelle & O’Connor, Alex (2020-05-03). "Alex "Cosmic Skeptic" O'Connor—Moral Philosophy". IntellectInterviews. Archived from the original (longform interview, minimal fact-checked introduction) on 12 July 2024. Retrieved 2024-11-02. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help)CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link) - ↑ O’Connor, Alex and Apple.com Staff (1 February 2025). "Within Reason" (podcast streaming home page). Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 1 February 2025. Note, these stated guests are those appearing in his opening podcast text blurb, as of 1 February 2025.
- ↑ Upmann, Jackson & O’Connor, Alex (2024-02-07). "Who Is Alex O'Connor?" (participant blurb, event promotion). ObjectiveStandard.org. Retrieved 2024-12-20.
His guests and debate opponents have included some of today’s most prominent thinkers, from Richard Dawkins to Neil deGrasse Tyson, Slavoj Žižek, William Lane Craig, and Ben Shapiro.
CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)[better source needed] - ↑ Team MDI (2019-05-15). "Big Oxford University Debate: "Does Islam Explain Reality Better Than Atheism?"". The Muslim Debate Initiative. Archived from the original on 31 May 2023. Retrieved 2024-11-02. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Norman, Matthew (2023-10-10). "Famous Journalist Tells Oxford Podcaster 'I Don't Like You' Before Storming Off". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 2024-10-30.
- ↑ Jashinsky Emily & O’Connor, Alex (28 October 2024). Inside the Jordan Peterson-Richard Dawkins Debate (interview AV). UnHerd.com. Event occurs at an unspecified time. Retrieved 2024-11-02.[full citation needed] Note, the information in this sentence, including the date of the debate, does not appear at the webpage, but may at the specified time in the AV broadcast.
- ↑ O'Connor, Alex. "Everything I Didn't Say to Ben Shapiro". AlexOConnor.com. Retrieved 1 February 2025.
My first thought was to celebrate a point of agreement between us. This led to, I think, some confusion. ‘Yes,’ I parroted, ‘if there is no God there is no free will,’ before adding a rather less-than-clear, ‘but I think that’s because of the truth of the latter of those statements.’
[third-party source needed] - ↑ Axelsson, Pelle & O’Conner, Alex. "Alex "Cosmic Skeptic" O'Connor Moral Philosophy" (brief editorial introduction followed by long interview quotes). IntellectInterviews.com. Retrieved 1 February 2025.
I traditionally reject the idea of objectivity in ethics. I’m what you might call a descriptivist, which essentially means that I talk about morality in purely descriptive terms. I don’t really use prescription in that I don’t talk about what you should or shouldn’t do. I also don’t think that people have free will, so I believe that they’ll always act in accordance with their desires, which will always be the maximization of their own pleasure. I think all actions are ultimately self-interested.
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