One of the most beautiful aspects of Hillsdale College is that learned conversation takes place both inside and outside of the classroom. Unfortunately, in many instances the educative value of our collegiate discussion is lost because of the strong opinions of the participants that can verge on doctrinarism.
Indeed, some students only pay lip service to Hillsdale’s motto, preferring impassioned debate to the pursuit of truth through reasoned, dialectical inquiry. While it is not vicious to defend one’s beliefs, Montaigne would note that, “To change one’s opinion and correct oneself, to give up a false position at the climax of a heated exposition, is a rare, strong, and philosophical virtue.” As Hillsdale students should know better than others, education lies not in argumentative victory; rather, it is the successful discovery of truth.
A more dangerous outgrowth of this problem is religious condescension. Hillsdale’s ostensible support for the First Amendment does not always translate to tolerance of other religions. Theological disagreement is bound to occur, but to argue that one’s denomination is inherently superior to another is pretentious at best. Any religion is worthy of respect as a foundation of moral development, so it is wrongheaded to condemn one for mere dissimilarity of rites — and unconscionable to decry any as a machination of the Deceiver. Adamantine insistence that one’s religious beliefs are the only path to righteousness shatters dialectical discourse on the subject of morality, the most important facet of the search for ultimate truth.
Because no human has perfect knowledge of what is right, we must learn from others — others with whom we disagree. Synthesizing apparently disparate ideas in the pursuit of truth is required if we are to rise to self-government.
Zero-sum debate inhibits the achievement of that end: where both parties to an argument are correct in part, dialectics is the only method that allows us to find truth on both sides. To best attain an education, we must realize our own ignorance and the value of the knowledge of others.
