Monogamy is Bad for the Soul: An Intelligence Squared Debate

Monogamy is Bad for the Soul
Jack Klaff, a writer, director, and actor; Rod Little, a journalist for The Guardian, The Sunday Times, and The Spectator; and Dr. Anthony Grayling of the University of London spoke for the motion.

Howard Jacobson, a novelist, critic, and broadcaster; Rowan Pelling, Founding Editor of the Erotic Review and a columnist for Independent; and Taki, a columnist for the London Spectator spoke against the motion.

Intelligence Squared is London's leading forum for live debate, holding regular debates on the crucial issues of the day and inviting the leading intellectual and political lights on the given subject to participate in them. The format of the debates is modelled on the one employed at the Oxford and Cambridge university Unions: a challenging, sharply defined motion; a team of speakers to propose the motion and a like number to oppose it; and a moderator to keep the speakers and the audience in order and force everyone to stick to the issues. After the main speeches and before summation, contributions are asked from the floor: audience participation is a key feature of the occasion, providing a rare opportunity for the public to voice their opinions and to challenge those of the speakers. A vote is taken before the debate begins and then again at the end so as to give a measure, often a very dramatic one, of the extent to which the audience has been swayed by the oratory and arguments of the speakers in the course of the evening.