The Duties of Disagreement

• In Event: 41.069 - Deliberation, Democracy, and Justice

Abstract

I argue that the current education system is failing to sensitize K-12 students to the ethical and civic responsibilities they incur in the face of disagreement with peers. In order to sensitize students to these responsibilities, topics that provoke disagreement should be taught in schools. I draw primarily on recent literature in the epistemology of disagreement to argue that the problem of disagreement among epistemic peers is more ethical than epistemological. I conclude by arguing that the problem additionally takes on a civic dimension in a democratic and educational context.

Author

• Zachary L. Barber, University of Rochester