Thank you for your good advice. However, I respectfully disagree with your last point: "...the greatest benefit of disagreeing well is ... that it will make the people who have them happier." While disagreeing well undoubtedly does remove ill temper from discussions, I see a much greater benefit, one that everything else in your illuminating article leads towards: reasoned disagreement helps us arrive at the truth.
How to Disagree
221–230 of 238 posts
Re: How to Disagree
#222Satire! You need to examine more the value of Mark Twain's ability to enlighten thru same.
Re: How to Disagree
#223Earlier quoted context omitted.
Aquinas wasn't quite so thorough in all his works. It's mostly the Summa Theologica which is so rigorous. I agree with the application however, for one to brook disagreement with another, one should usually understand the subject better than that person. This implies understanding your opponent's arguments better than your opponent. If don't understand your opponents arguments better than he, who are you to say that…
I am glad that people are thinking of Aquainas in this connection. In fact, I _still_ think his book on logical fallacies is one of the best. For example, he is the _only_ one to get the defintion of "amphigology" right. Unfortunately, when you look at the link where you can find it online at http://www.corpusthomisticum.org/dp3.html , you will see why so few people still read this book:(
Do you find anything wrong in that online edition of the original Latin text?
Re: How to Disagree
#224Great article! I'm struggling with how to respond to an argument from a customer. The customer wrote me a long
email, refuting an article I wrote on the pros and cons of
using CSS in web design--setting the priority to high, no
less. In her letter, she tooted her own experience and
skills. Your article helped me realize why her letter
rankled me. It wasn't that she was disagreeing--I'm not
passionately for or against CSS and could care less what
she thinks about it. But by citing her credentials
the way she did, I felt she was calling my own into
question and using that as her basis of an argument. So
I'd put her debate in the Variant of the DH1. Ad Hominem
category.
And I've decided not to respond to her letter, customer or not. Not only because it was demeaning, but also, because I don't have the time or energy to launch round two.
This all got me thinking about how tired I am of the way that people on the net feel they absolutely must write and argue about something-- anything--they disagree with. So many out there are quick to express their contempt for other people's ideas and opinions. Most such arguments seem pointless and are usually fruitless.
If I read something I disagree with on the net, I take from it what I think is of value and ignore the rest. Time is just to too short.
Re: How to Disagree
#225I really shouldn't comment because I haven't read through this mountain of comments. So I won't. But thanks all the same.
Re: How to Disagree
#226The Disagreement Hierarchy has now been included in Wikipedia. Please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disagreement_Hierarchy .
Re: How to Disagree
#227Brilliant, worth a read "the Art of Controversy by Arthur Schopenhauer".
Re: How to Disagree
#228I saw a diagram for Graham's Hierarchy of Disagreement on wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Resolving_disputes). I typed the title into Google search engine and found this article. This is going to make my life better. Thanks!
Re: How to Disagree
#229Lovely essay, I have translated it into swedish: http://kyrkansframtid.se/2008/07/hur-man-ar-oense/
Re: How to Disagree
#230Very informative article. Even most of the comments here provide good insight into the matter. I, for one, would surely pause for a few seconds from now on before submitting comments.