The Art of Disagreement
As October continues its march towards November, Chrysostom Academy’s academic calendar continues along as well. Students are beginning to (or will be taking) their quarterly tests. Since changing buildings this summer, I have been moved into the middle of the upper school, and I can always tell when a test is occurring because the usual hum of student conversation is silent. Now, in a regular school, this is normal. Teachers stand at the front of the class and teach while students diligently copy down what is being said, perhaps asking a question or two if they don’t understand the material. However, this is not the pedagogical model of Chrysostom Academy.
Chrysostom Academy embraces the Socratic method of learning for our upper school students. Students are not only encouraged, but in many classes are required to participate in their daily lessons. This leads to a natural give and take, in depth discussions, and reasonable dialogue. This dialogue is how students learn. Think about when all of us were kids. We learned by asking questions. It is estimated (https://amorebeautifulquestion.com/why-do-kids-ask-so-many-questions-but-more- importantly-why-do-they-stop/) that between the ages of 2 and 5, kids ask an average of 40,000 questions, which translates to an average of 27 questions per day! Multiply that times the number of children one has, and…well, you get the point. As we grow and mature, we still ask questions, but also begin to form our own opinions, voicing them out loud, and feeling out how they are received by our peers and broader community. This voicing of opinion is a natural and healthy way of growing, as incorrect opinions or assumptions are disputed and corrected. We also encounter peers who are as knowledgeable in a subject who disagree vociferously with us. G.K. Chesterton, in talking about his friend and famous playwright George Bernard Shaw says, “I am not concerned with Mr. Bernard Shaw as one of the most brilliant and one of the most honest men alive; I am concerned with him as a Heretic—that is to say, a man whose philosophy is quite solid, quite coherent, and quite wrong” (Heretics, 22). In the classroom, this leads to a healthy growth in understanding, but also an understanding of how to reason, and even disagree with those around us. This ability to disagree and dialogue means students can live in a world where people disagree without feeling a need to force everyone to agree with them.
This lesson is being lost on a lot of people today in many areas of society, whether political, social, religious, or personal. There are stories floating around saying people stopped talking with friends who read the wrong book, or failed to read the right one. Social media is rife with “experts” putting the smack down on their opponents, where the only thing worth preserving is the “rightness” of their opinions and the “wrongness” of their opponents. Charity, justice, and plain civility are replaced with ad hominems, insults, and violence. If we are unable to live in a social circle with those with whom we disagree, our social circles will be small indeed. This, perhaps, is why so many people are lonely today. Studies show (https://www.psychiatry.org/news-room/news- releases/new-apa-poll-one-in-three-americans-feels-lonely-e) that 30% of Americans aged 18-34 feel lonely every week. We wish to surround ourselves with carbon copies of us. If we are to build the “little platoons” which make up our lives, we must be able to live with those who disagree with us, and have the mental space not only to be around these people, but like Chesterton, be friends with them as well.
One of the things I learned from watching my parents and grandparents discuss “important” topics was the art of agreeing to disagree with another who may not fully buy into what we say. This, herein, is an art. It never feels good to have someone disagree with us, but it should feel even worse when our own thoughts about things alienate and destroy the bonds of charity which we as Christians are called to. Christ did not say, “love your enemy only when they agree with you,” but, rather, “love your enemies!” And if we are being honest, I don’t know if I would enjoy the particularities of this world if we all agreed with one another. Wisdom is acquired by listening, finding common ground, and working toward the Kingdom of Christ, not by destroying those with whom we disagree. It may just be that the only Gospel someone ever receives is the Gospel they see in us. Love your enemies. Bless those that curse you and persecute you. Love your neighbor as you love yourself.
This process of learning to artfully disagree starts with a good education, where the mental maps students build can accept nuance and difference without feeling the need to either withdraw or shout others down. Proper disagreement begins with a proper education. It can be said the entire canon of philosophical thought is a dialogue with itself. This is how philosophers such as Plato, Diogenese, Nietzsche, Rousseau, Locke, Marx, Heidegger, and Foucault can all be considered a part of this canon. They are all in dialogue with each other, even if they all disagree. Exposure to this dialogue, and the ability to hold this dialogue in tension with one’s personal beliefs is what forms the basis of a good education. This education is what Chrysostom Academy strives to inculcate in our students. We are not interested in producing students who all think the same; instead, we are dedicated to giving our students the tools necessary to properly reason and disagree with their peers in a healthy and respectful manner. And so, as our students take their tests, I know they have been properly prepared to give an honest account of what they have learned, while being able to disagree when disagreement is not only permitted but demanded.
As always, in the final word of St. John Chrysostom, Glory to God for All Things!
John W. Heitzenrater, II A.B., M.H.M.
Headmaster
jheitzenrater@chrysostomacademy.org
610-427-2758