Steven "Destiny" Bonnell
American streamer and debater who says he does not believe in objective right and wrong.
13 videos analysed · 33 quotes checked word for word · updated 2026-10-19
Key facts
- Born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1988. He went to a Jesuit high school. Wikipédia 2026 · Destiny (streamer) - Wikipedia
- Wikipedia lists about 874,000 YouTube subscribers. Wikipédia 2026 · Destiny (streamer) - Wikipedia
Positions
click a row to see the evidenceIn 2018 he said he was neither an atheist nor a theist but a non-believer. Later he says he is "not religious" and does not believe in anything supernatural, and he takes the atheist side in debates.
2018 He refuses both labels: "I'm not an atheist and I'm not a theist", and adds that he is a non-believer. Video 2018 · Destiny vs Jeff Grupp, a former…
- Predictiveness is the most important feature of a belief system, and he thinks religion does not score well on it. Video 2022 · "I Was Terrified Of Hell So I…
- Not having an explanation for something does not mean it needs a supernatural entity; gaps in science do not show God. Video 2019 · "I've never considered this…
- He dislikes the fine-tuning argument because it assumes the universe could only exist the way it does now. Video 2019 · "I've never considered this…
- Against the argument from religious experience, after a dream or a drug state we can judge that the state probably wasn't real. Video 2018 · A Debate on Religion: Destiny vs…
A religious experience felt as real as anything can be. Why not accept it as real instead of looking for a more scientific explanation?
He agrees that what we experience is as real as anything. But after a dream or a drug trip we can look back and judge that the state probably was not real.
Fine-tuning is a good probabilistic argument for a designer.
He answers that it supposes the universe could only exist as it does now. Maybe it could have been set quite differently and produced another kind of life.
See 1 more objections
Science cannot explain everything, such as dark energy. Wouldn't that mean you have to believe in God?
He says not having an explanation is different from needing a supernatural one. Many things once unexplained were later explained without a supernatural power.
Criticizes : The fine-tuning of the universe: too perfect a coincidence?, If God seems present, he probably is
He ties the person to the brain: "as soon as we start to swap out the brain it seems like something is fundamentally changed". He sees no reason why a perfect emulation of a brain would not be conscious.
- As soon as we swap out the brain, something fundamental seems changed, so the person is tied to the brain and conscious experience. Video 2022 · Destiny debates Matt Dillahunty…
- If you could emulate with perfect accuracy the biomechanisms of a brain on a machine, he sees no reason it could never be conscious. Video 2023 · Destiny reacts to a review of…
Even a complete account of the brain leaves out why there is any experience at all: the hard problem of consciousness.
He builds morality from what makes him happy: "those things are to me those things are good". He says cooperation comes from "reciprocated self-interest", a form of social contract, and in 2019 called his view "descriptive egoism". Wikipedia lists him among utilitarians; he does not use that word in the videos we saw.
He says: "I don't think there is such thing as moral fact." He gives the same reason in several debates: moral facts cannot be observed or investigated. In 2026 he adds that a realist explanation is "an unnecessary layer".
- There are no moral facts: they cannot be observed or investigated, and moral disagreements sit outside science (if moral facts existed in science, we could just settle them). Video 2019 · Can Morality Be Objective?…2
- A moral realist explanation adds an unnecessary layer; moral facts look like an arbitrary label for things that can be described in other ways. Video 2026 · The Debate That Changed…2
- Everyone seeks to fulfil their own preferences (descriptive egoism); cooperation comes from reciprocated self-interest, a form of social contract, and morality is an intuition that emerged because groups without it could not survive. Video 2019 · Can Morality Be Objective? -…23
- Against the objection that realists jump from what people prefer to what is good, he points to the is-ought gap; many ethical arguments are really factual arguments in disguise. Video 2019 · Can Morality Be Objective? -…2
- Asked how an anti-realist can call his beliefs better, he answers that he holds them because he thinks they beat the beliefs he rejected, and he can choose which value to start from. Video 2023 · IS IT MORALLY OK TO RESPOND W/…2
If evolution explains our moral intuitions without making them true, it explains our reasoning the same way. Why trust your logic but not moral intuitions?
He first states his position as physical realism but moral anti-realism, then concedes that the same reasoning could make him a physical anti-realist. He says a realist explanation adds an unnecessary layer on top of what can already be described.
Without moral facts, what is the basis for treating one idea as better than another?
He says he holds his beliefs because he thinks they are better than the ones he rejected. He assumes other people run on a similar mind, which gives some shared foundation, but he does not claim insight into absolute truth.
Defends : "Stealing is wrong" describes nothing: it is a cry of indignation, Reason is the slave of the passions: morality is felt, not demonstrated
He says science and religion are "completely and totally incommensurable": religion only survives by bending to what science finds. Against a claim of religious experience, he says we can later judge such a state was probably not real.
- Science and religion are completely incommensurable: religion can only survive by bending to what science finds. Video 2018 · Destiny vs Jeff Grupp: science…
- Religion hands out ready-made answers in ethics, metaphysics and epistemology, but believers still disagree among themselves. Video 2025 · Mohammad Hijab DESTROYS Destiny…
Believing in God without proof can be perfectly rational: some beliefs are basic and need no argument.
He says people who look for a greater purpose turn to religion, since "you're not going to find objective meaning in life outside of some god figure".
- Without a god figure there is no objective meaning, so people who look for a greater purpose end up clinging to religion. Video 2022 · Destiny debates Armin Navabi
Meaning does not need a god: a life can have objective meaning when we love what is truly worth loving.
No sourced position yet on: Source of knowledge, Certainty, Freedom, Human nature.
On the big questions
Does God exist?Atheism
He does not believe in the supernatural. In 2018 he preferred the word non-believer to atheist.
- Predictiveness is the most important feature of a belief system, and he thinks religion does not score well on it. Video 2022 · "I Was Terrified Of Hell So I…
- Not having an explanation for something does not mean it needs a supernatural entity; gaps in science do not show God. Video 2019 · "I've never considered this…
- He dislikes the fine-tuning argument because it assumes the universe could only exist the way it does now. Video 2019 · "I've never considered this…
- Against the argument from religious experience, after a dream or a drug state we can judge that the state probably wasn't real. Video 2018 · A Debate on Religion: Destiny vs…
A religious experience felt as real as anything can be. Why not accept it as real instead of looking for a more scientific explanation?
He agrees that what we experience is as real as anything. But after a dream or a drug trip we can look back and judge that the state probably was not real.
Fine-tuning is a good probabilistic argument for a designer.
He answers that it supposes the universe could only exist as it does now. Maybe it could have been set quite differently and produced another kind of life.
See 1 more objections
Science cannot explain everything, such as dark energy. Wouldn't that mean you have to believe in God?
He says not having an explanation is different from needing a supernatural one. Many things once unexplained were later explained without a supernatural power.
Criticizes : The fine-tuning of the universe: too perfect a coincidence?, If God seems present, he probably is
The question on the site: all the argumentsDoes life have a meaning?A meaning to create
He says you will not find objective meaning in life outside of some god figure.
- Without a god figure there is no objective meaning, so people who look for a greater purpose end up clinging to religion. Video 2022 · Destiny debates Armin Navabi
Meaning does not need a god: a life can have objective meaning when we love what is truly worth loving.
What makes something right?Morality questioned
He rejects objective morality. He says moral claims cannot be observed, and builds his own rules on happiness and cooperation.
- There are no moral facts: they cannot be observed or investigated, and moral disagreements sit outside science (if moral facts existed in science, we could just settle them). Video 2019 · Can Morality Be Objective?…2
- A moral realist explanation adds an unnecessary layer; moral facts look like an arbitrary label for things that can be described in other ways. Video 2026 · The Debate That Changed…2
- Everyone seeks to fulfil their own preferences (descriptive egoism); cooperation comes from reciprocated self-interest, a form of social contract, and morality is an intuition that emerged because groups without it could not survive. Video 2019 · Can Morality Be Objective? -…23
- Against the objection that realists jump from what people prefer to what is good, he points to the is-ought gap; many ethical arguments are really factual arguments in disguise. Video 2019 · Can Morality Be Objective? -…2
- Asked how an anti-realist can call his beliefs better, he answers that he holds them because he thinks they beat the beliefs he rejected, and he can choose which value to start from. Video 2023 · IS IT MORALLY OK TO RESPOND W/…2
If evolution explains our moral intuitions without making them true, it explains our reasoning the same way. Why trust your logic but not moral intuitions?
He first states his position as physical realism but moral anti-realism, then concedes that the same reasoning could make him a physical anti-realist. He says a realist explanation adds an unnecessary layer on top of what can already be described.
Without moral facts, what is the basis for treating one idea as better than another?
He says he holds his beliefs because he thinks they are better than the ones he rejected. He assumes other people run on a similar mind, which gives some shared foundation, but he does not claim insight into absolute truth.
Defends : "Stealing is wrong" describes nothing: it is a cry of indignation, Reason is the slave of the passions: morality is felt, not demonstrated
The question on the site: all the argumentsIs the mind the brain?The mind comes from matter
He ties the person and their moral worth to the brain and to conscious experience.
- As soon as we swap out the brain, something fundamental seems changed, so the person is tied to the brain and conscious experience. Video 2022 · Destiny debates Matt Dillahunty…
- If you could emulate with perfect accuracy the biomechanisms of a brain on a machine, he sees no reason it could never be conscious. Video 2023 · Destiny reacts to a review of…
Even a complete account of the brain leaves out why there is any experience at all: the hard problem of consciousness.
Should we believe without proof?No belief without evidence
He says science and religion are incommensurable, and that believers disagree among themselves on the answers religion gives.
- Science and religion are completely incommensurable: religion can only survive by bending to what science finds. Video 2018 · Destiny vs Jeff Grupp: science…
- Religion hands out ready-made answers in ethics, metaphysics and epistemology, but believers still disagree among themselves. Video 2025 · Mohammad Hijab DESTROYS Destiny…
Believing in God without proof can be perfectly rational: some beliefs are basic and need no argument.
Do animals matter as much as we do?Humans first
He starts from human sentience, and says he does not believe in an obligation to reduce all suffering.
- Moral consideration depends on having a human conscious experience and the ability to deploy it; he starts there because as an anti-realist he can choose his starting value. Video 2023 · Destiny Debates: Do Animals…
- He does not believe in an obligation to reduce all suffering, although harming something that knows what it is like to be something matters. Video 2019 · Destiny debates Michael Jones…2
Moral worth cannot switch from full to zero: evolution has no sharp line between humans and other animals, so it should be a sliding scale.
He says it is unsatisfying, but that does not make it impossible. Breeding ability also drops from full to zero between humans and their closest relatives, and today the links in between are extinct.
In their words
I don't believe that there is an objective right or wrong
I don't believe there's a fact to be observed
being a little ethical anti-realist means I can pick whatever one makes me feel better
I'm physical realism, but moral anti-realism
1 more quotes
I'm not religious so obviously I don't believe he had any supernatural anything
How the ideas evolved
Click a step for details2011Full-time StarCraft II streamer
He quits a carpet-cleaning job to stream StarCraft II full-time.
2016Live-streamed debates
He starts live-streaming debates. He says he prefers to argue from empirical data rather than moral persuasion.
2018Non-believer, but not "atheist"
In a debate with the pastor Jeff Grupp, he says he is neither an atheist nor a theist, and that he is a non-believer who wants to know the truth.
In their words« I'm not an atheist and I'm not a theist people know this we've had these discussions »In 2018 he declines both the labels atheist and theist and calls himself a non-believer who just wants to know the truth. watch
« once we've left those states I think it's totally possible to analyze those prior States and say well this one probably wasn't real »Against the argument from religious experience, he says that after a dream or a drug state we can judge it was probably not real. watch
« these two things are completely and totally in commensurable to one another »He says science and religion are incommensurable: religion can only survive by bending to what science finds. watch
2019Debate on objective morality
Against the atheist moral realist Tom Jump, he says moral facts cannot be investigated or observed, and calls his own view descriptive egoism.
In their words« I don't think there is such thing as moral fact. I don't think there's any way we can investigate it. I don't think there's any way we can observe it »Opening statement: he denies moral facts, since they cannot be investigated or observed. watch
« personally I'm I'm a moral anti-realist »He calls himself a moral anti-realist. watch
« we've kind of like jumped over like an is-ought thing »He objects that his opponent jumps from what people prefer to what is morally good, an is-ought gap. watch
2021His moral system, step by step
Talking with a psychologist, he explains his morality: what makes him happy is good, and cooperation between people raises everyone's happiness.
In their words« i don't believe in any sort of like moral realism or objective moral truth because i don't think that we have ways to feel or see morality »He explains why he rejects moral realism: we have no way to sense or detect morality. watch
« there are things that i have that i want to fulfill in my life that make me happy those things are to me those things are good »His working definition of good: what satisfies his own wants and happiness. watch
« everything kind of comes from this like reciprocated uh self-interest if that makes sense »He says cooperation comes from reciprocated self-interest: each person's happiness depends on the others' help. watch
2023Debate with Trent Horn: no observable moral fact
In a debate with the Catholic apologist Trent Horn, he says he does not believe in an objective right and wrong, and accepts the label non-cognitive.
2023A free choice of starting point
On Alex O'Connor's podcast, he says being an ethical anti-realist lets him pick which value to start from, and he starts from human conscious experience.
In their words« being a little ethical anti-realist means I can pick whatever one makes me feel better »He says that, as an ethical anti-realist, he can choose which value to start from, and starts from human sentience. watch
« do you have a human conscious experience and do you have the ability to deploy said experience those are like the two things I say that make you worthy moral consideration »He says moral consideration depends on having a human conscious experience, which leaves non-human animals out. watch
2026Debate with a moral realist: "an unnecessary layer"
He states his position as physical realism but moral anti-realism, then, pressed by the argument that the same reasoning carries over, says he may have to drop "physical realism". He says explaining morality with moral facts adds an unnecessary layer.
In their words« I would argue that um a realist explanation is just adding an unnecessary layer on top that doesn't need to be there »Debating a moral realist, he argues that explaining morality by moral facts adds an unnecessary extra layer. watch
« I'm physical realism, but moral anti-realism, and you're telling me »He states his own position in the debate: realist about the physical world, anti-realist about morality. watch
« I think that morality is like an intuitive thing that kind of necessarily emerges from humans because without these types of preferential behaviors »He explains morality as an intuitive set of cooperative behaviours that emerged because groups without them could not survive. watch
The arguments 5
The site's arguments they defend or criticize, and why. Click a title to see the full argument.
He treats moral claims as expressions of feeling, close to Ayer's emotivism. We have no source where he names Ayer.
Against his opponent he says they have "jumped over an is-ought thing": preferences do not make a moral fact.
When Alex O'Connor says we trust unprovable intuitions about the outside world, so we could trust moral ones, he sums up his own view: no provable moral fact.
He says: "I don't like the fine-tuning argument", because it assumes the universe could only exist as it does.
Against a pastor's religious experience, he says that after a dream or a drug state we can judge it was probably not real.
Allies and opponents
Trent HornDisagrees
Horn argued that people sense moral facts intuitively, and that objective morality is rooted in God. They debated in 2023.
TTom JumpDisagrees
An atheist who argues that morality is objective. They debated in 2019.
MMichael JonesDisagrees
A Christian idealist (Inspiring Philosophy) who argued for God from the nature of mind. They debated in 2019.
Mohammed HijabDisagrees
They debated Islam against atheism.
Debates and big conversations
Signature ideas
Internal happiness and reciprocity
He says each person tries to satisfy their own "internal happiness", and that this needs other people. So everyone gains by helping others, which makes a kind of social contract without any moral fact.
Closest and furthest
how it is computedAmong the philosophers
Among today's voices
Take the Compass: 5 minutes to find out which philosophers you are closest to.
All sources (45)
- Destiny (streamer) - Wikipedia Wikipedia · 2026
- Highlights from the Whatever abortion debate (Counsel of Trent) Catholic Answers · 2023
- Destiny: a Philosophical Psychopath? Psystack (critical essay)
- Destiny vs Jeff Grupp: religious experience and hallucination YouTube · 2018
- Can Morality Be Objective? Destiny debates Tom Jump (Modern-Day Debate) YouTube · 2019
- Destiny debates morality on the Sitch and Adam show YouTube · 2022
- Destiny Debates: Do Animals Matter? (Within Reason clip) YouTube (CosmicSkeptic) · 2023
- Destiny reacts to a review of the Whatever debate YouTube · 2023
- Destiny and Mohammed Hijab: Islam vs atheism debate YouTube · 2025
- The Debate That Changed Destiny's Philosophy (debate with a moral realist) YouTube · 2026
- Destiny debate with a moral realist: the extra layer YouTube · 2026
- Sargon Admits Destiny Wins Morality Debate YouTube · 2022
- The Debate That Changed Destiny's Philosophy YouTube · 2026
- Can Morality Be Objective? - Destiny Debates YouTube · 2019
- Psychologist Challenges Destiny To Justify Himself And His Morals ft. FilthyRobot YouTube · 2021
- The Debate That Changed Destiny's Philosophy YouTube · 2026
- Psychologist Challenges Destiny To Justify Himself And His Morals ft. FilthyRobot YouTube · 2021
- Destiny Debates: Do Animals Matter? YouTube · 2023
- A Debate on Religion: Destiny vs Former Atheist Turned Pastor Jeff Grupp YouTube · 2018
- Can Morality Be Objective? Destiny debates Tom Jump (Modern-Day Debate) YouTube · 2019
- Destiny talks morality with the psychologist FilthyRobot YouTube · 2021
- Destiny vs Jeff Grupp, a former atheist turned pastor (Non Sequitur show) YouTube · 2018
- Destiny debates Michael Jones (Inspiring Philosophy) on whether God exists YouTube · 2019
- Destiny debates Armin Navabi YouTube · 2022
- Destiny vs Tom Jump: the is-ought gap and descriptive egoism YouTube · 2019
- Destiny debates Matt Dillahunty (Modern-Day Debates) YouTube · 2022
- Destiny reacts to a review of the Whatever debate YouTube · 2023
- Destiny vs Jeff Grupp: science and religion YouTube · 2018
- The Debate That Changed Destiny's Philosophy YouTube · 2026
- Can Morality Be Objective? - Destiny Debates YouTube · 2019
- IS IT MORALLY OK TO RESPOND W/ VIOLENCE? Destiny Defends Himself In 1v2 Debate YouTube · 2023
- The Debate That Changed Destiny's Philosophy (debate with a moral realist) YouTube · 2026
- Destiny debate with a moral realist: the basis for judging one idea better YouTube · 2026
- "I Was Terrified Of Hell So I Jumped Out The Window" - Destiny Debates Armin YouTube · 2022
- "I've never considered this argument before..." - Destiny Debates Michael Jones YouTube · 2019
- "I've never considered this argument before..." - Destiny Debates Michael Jones YouTube · 2019
- Destiny debates Michael Jones (Inspiring Philosophy) on whether God exists YouTube · 2019
- Destiny debates Michael Jones (Inspiring Philosophy) on whether God exists YouTube · 2019
- Destiny Debates: Do Animals Matter? (Within Reason clip) YouTube (CosmicSkeptic) · 2023
- Destiny Debates: Do Animals Matter? (Within Reason clip) YouTube (CosmicSkeptic) · 2023
- Mohammad Hijab DESTROYS Destiny in Islam vs Atheism Debate YouTube · 2025
- Can Ethics be Objective? Destiny and CosmicSkeptic (Within Reason clip) YouTube (CosmicSkeptic) · 2023
- Destiny debates Michael Jones (Inspiring Philosophy) on whether God exists YouTube · 2019
- Destiny Debates: Do Animals Matter? (Within Reason clip) YouTube (CosmicSkeptic) · 2023
- Destiny talks morality with the psychologist FilthyRobot YouTube · 2021