Kadish Workshop in Law, Philosophy, and Political Theory: Deanna Kuhn, Columbia University

Is Discourse the Way Out of Disagreement?

Disagreement, both local and global, is at a record high. Communication between disagreeing parties is at a record low and likely not to be fruitful when it does occur.   As risks of global destruction become imaginable, what if anything can save us?

In today’s very troubled times, many of us see reasoned discourse between participants of goodwill and intentions as our only path to survival and progress. Belief in reasoned discourse is a pillar of democracies, which themselves appear under increasing threat. But is it capable of saving us? The jury is out at present.

About Deanna Kuhn, Columbia University

Deanna Kuhn is Professor Emerita of Psychology and Education at Columbia University Teachers College, is a cognitive, developmental and educational psychologist and a member of the National Academy of Education. Her primary concern is with how best to educate students for their adult roles in the workplace and in their personal lives as life-long learners and as citizens. Her work has been published widely in outlets ranging from Psychological Review to Harvard Educational Review. Her books include Education for thinking, The skills of argument, The development of scientific thinking skills, Argue with me: Argument as a path to developing students’ thinking and writing, and, most recently, written directly to teens, Building our best future: Thinking critically about ourselves and our world.

About the Workshop:

A workshop for presenting and discussing work in progress in moral, political, and legal theory. The central aim is to provide an opportunity for students to engage with philosophers, political theorists, and legal scholars working on normative questions. Another aim is to bring together people from different disciplines who have strong normative interests or who speak to issues of potential interest to philosophers and political theorists.  

The theme for the Fall 2024 workshop is “Disagreement.”

This semester the workshop is co-taught by Josh Cohen and Véronique Munoz-Dardé.