Christopher Hitchens

Christopher Eric Hitchens (13 April 1949 – 15 December 2011) was a British-American author and journalist who wrote or edited over 30 books (including five essay collections) on culture, politics, and literature. Hitchens originally described himself as a democratic socialist, and he was a member of various socialist organisations throughout his life, including the International Socialists. Hitchens eventually stopped describing himself as a socialist, but he continued to admire (at least in principle based upon his columns) Marxism, referencing Marx's materialist conception of history. Hitchens was very critical of aspects of American foreign policy, such as American involvement in war crimes in Vietnam, Chile, and East Timor. However, he also supported the United States in the Kosovo War, the Afghanistan War, the Iraq War and other military interventions. Hitchens described himself as an anti-theist, who saw all religions as false, harmful and authoritarian. He argued for free expression and scientific discovery, and asserted that they were superior to religion as an ethical code of conduct for human civilisation. He also advocated separation of church and state. The dictum "What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence" has become known as Hitchens's razor.Born and educated in England, Hitchens worked as a journalist with the New Statesman magazine in London in the 1970s after leaving Oxford. In the early 1980s he emigrated to America and wrote for The Nation and Vanity Fair. Hitchens died from complications related to esophageal cancer in December 2011.