Should we use debates as a method of grappling with facts and ideas to come to understanding and developing a worldview? Hell no. Because debates favor the disingenuous and the dishonest. But is there a place for debate in our society? There has to be, because we are often faced with binary choices and the outcomes are more serious than serious. Who we vote for, whether to support a ballot initiative, who gets denied tenure, who gets convicted, who gets supplied with weapons to commit genocide, should the buses be free, and so on. We know all too well in the public sphere that intellectually honest rhetorical tactics often lose to dishonesty and deception. So yeah, debates are here to stay. But when we’re in the realm of the university and when we’re among scholars who are genuinely in pursuit of knowledge and understanding, let’s stop debating and let’s start discussing. Let’s stop being in it to win it, and let’s help one another learn and grow. And let’s stop elevating the men who pretend that debate is honorable. (Terry McGlynn)

Foto de 愚木混株 Yumu na Unsplash