What was it that one learned through a great books curriculum? Certainly not "conservatism" in any contemporary American sense of the term. We were not taught to become American patriots, or religious pietists, or to worship what Rudyard Kipling called "the Gods of the Market Place." We were not instructed in the evils of Marxism, or the glories of capitalism, or even the superiority of Western civilization.
As I think about it, I'm not sure we were taught anything at all. What we did was read books that raised serious questions about the human condition, and which invited us to attempt to ask serious questions of our own. Education, in this sense, wasn't a "teaching" with any fixed lesson. It was an exercise in interrogation.
To listen and understand; to question and disagree; to treat no proposition as sacred and no objection as impious; to be willing to entertain unpopular ideas and cultivate the habits of an open mind — this is what I was encouraged to do by my teachers at the University of Chicago.
It's what used to be called a liberal education.
The University of Chicago showed us something else: that every great idea is really just a spectacular disagreement with some other great idea.
Bret Stephens's speech warrants a full read. It makes valuable points that we all need to hear, even on SN.
(Score: 0, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 27 2017, @06:44PM (3 children)
Yes, way to go! There's that binary thinking again that TFA so finely lambasts.
So, to take my cue from the article:
Please, demonstrate your ability to comprehend another's position before presenting your disagreement for all to see.
(Score: 2, Disagree) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday September 27 2017, @07:36PM (2 children)
Liberty is a boolean issue. You either have a certain kind of liberty or you don't; there is no gray area between true and false. You don't believe there is either. Not really. You just want to chip away at my liberties stealthily by convincing me there is.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 27 2017, @07:48PM
We're comin' to gitcha! Best fly off varmint.
(Score: 2, Disagree) by chromas on Wednesday September 27 2017, @08:00PM
But but, liberty's on a spectrum!!