No. 42 in America · Week of November 9, 2026
Philosopher and public intellectual
Cornel West is a philosopher, theologian and activist, and one of the best-known voices on the American left.
Photo: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0
Score breakdown
Nine parts, measured fresh each week. This is where Cornel West's points came from, and the evidence behind each one.
Debate record
Has spent years on campus stages disagreeing in public with his friend Robert George, the conservative legal philosopher.
West's work centers on race, gender and class in American society, drawing on Christianity, the Black church and Marxism. He ran as an independent for president in 2024.
With Robert George he co-wrote Truth Matters: A Dialogue on Fruitful Disagreement in an Age of Division.
On the record
2025
January 16, 2025
Formal debate
Against Robert George · Dartmouth Political Union
West and George, who had just co-written Truth Matters, debated the costs and benefits of free-market systems at the Dartmouth Political Union.
Take a side: Is capitalism still the best engine for human flourishing?
2018
October 2018
Formal debate
Against Robert George · Brandeis University
West and George made the case for free speech, liberal education and truth-seeking across their political divide.
The people on this list argue in public for a living. At SuperDebate you get the same stage: one question, a clear structure, and a room that votes. It is how you learn to win an argument without making enemies.
