{"id":266062,"date":"2017-08-31T13:41:06","date_gmt":"2017-08-31T17:41:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=266062"},"modified":"2017-09-07T10:13:24","modified_gmt":"2017-09-07T14:13:24","slug":"is-it-reasonable-to-agree-to-disagree-266062","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/is-it-reasonable-to-agree-to-disagree-266062\/","title":{"rendered":"Is it reasonable to \u2018agree to disagree\u2019?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"
Richard Feldman. (University photo \/ J. Adam Fenster)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rationality, Evidence, and Public Discourse<\/strong>
\n2017 Romanell\u2013Phi Beta Kappa Lectures<\/em>
\nRush Rhees Library<\/p>\n

Lecture 1: What is Reasonable Belief?<\/strong>
\nThursday, September 7, 7\u20138:30 p.m.,<\/em> Hawkins-Carlson Room
\nLecture 2: Argument and Public Discourse<\/strong>
\nThursday, September 14, 7\u20138:30 p.m.,<\/em> Humanities Center Conference Room
\nLecture 3: Can Reasonable People Disagree?<\/strong>
\nMonday, September 18, 7\u20138:30 p.m.,<\/em> Humanities Center Conference Room<\/p>\n

These lectures are free and open to the public. Livestreams willl be available for viewing at www.rochester.edu\/news\/live<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

When people disagree, and all involved in the discussion believe that theirs is the reasonable position, what\u2019s to be done?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a question that underlies \u201cRationality, Evidence, and Public Discourse,\u201d a lecture series in September by philosopher Richard Feldman. Dean of the College for a decade before he stepped down last spring, Feldman is the Romanell\u2013Phi Beta Kappa Professor in Philosophy for this academic year, a national award presented annually to a distinguished philosophy scholar in recognition of achievements and contributions to the discipline.<\/p>\n

At the root of Feldman\u2019s lectures is a simple proposition: a reasonable belief is one that\u2019s guided by the evidence. That much might seem obvious, he says, but is it really such an uncontroversial idea?<\/p>\n

In his first lecture, Feldman will examine the challenges that complicate the relationship between evidence and belief. In the second, he\u2019ll talk about the kinds of misunderstandings and confusion that can get in the way of using discussions with others to arrive at reasonable beliefs. And in the final lecture, he\u2019ll scrutinize the possibility of reasonable disagreement.<\/p>\n

As an epistemologist, Feldman has spent his career thinking about the nature of knowledge and rationality. With Rochester colleague Earl Conee, he contributed to the development of evidentialism, the idea that beliefs are worth only as much as the evidence supporting them.<\/p>\n

Feldman has always been interested in bringing his philosophical explorations to bear on the wider world. He calls his project \u201capplied epistemology,\u201d and he\u2019s developed it in an undergraduate course, a textbook, and an effort to introduce some of this material into public schools.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s carried out that work with the goal of providing useful theoretical foundations for thinking effectively about real issues and taking part in public discussions of them.<\/p>\n

The lectures won\u2019t discuss the substance of current controversies, but Feldman hopes that what he does cover will be useful for those who take part in discussions about them.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems to me, and to plenty of others, that there\u2019s a general need for this sort of thing now,\u201d he says. \u201cThis struck me as a good thing to do in these lectures.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When people disagree, and all involved in the discussion believe that theirs is the reasonable position, what\u2019s to be done? That\u2019s a question that underlies a lecture series in September by philosopher Richard Feldman.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":752,"featured_media":266202,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[456],"tags":[21482,14,29302,16072],"class_list":["post-266062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society-culture","tag-department-of-philosophy","tag-events","tag-richard-feldman","tag-school-of-arts-and-sciences"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nIs it reasonable to \u2018agree to disagree\u2019?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When people disagree, and all involved believe their position to be reasonable, what\u2019s to be done? That\u2019s a question that underlies a fall lecture series.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/is-it-reasonable-to-agree-to-disagree-266062\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is it reasonable to \u2018agree to disagree\u2019?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When people disagree, and all involved believe their position to be reasonable, what\u2019s to be done? That\u2019s a question that underlies a fall lecture series.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/is-it-reasonable-to-agree-to-disagree-266062\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News Center\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-08-31T17:41:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-09-07T14:13:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/fea-agree-disagree.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kathleen McGarvey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kathleen McGarvey\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/is-it-reasonable-to-agree-to-disagree-266062\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/is-it-reasonable-to-agree-to-disagree-266062\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kathleen McGarvey\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/442b2a3bb25330f6067579b6ae13adbb\"},\"headline\":\"Is it reasonable to \u2018agree to disagree\u2019?\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-08-31T17:41:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-09-07T14:13:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/is-it-reasonable-to-agree-to-disagree-266062\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":455,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/is-it-reasonable-to-agree-to-disagree-266062\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/fea-agree-disagree.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Department of Philosophy\",\"events\",\"Richard Feldman\",\"School of Arts and Sciences\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Society & Culture\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/is-it-reasonable-to-agree-to-disagree-266062\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/is-it-reasonable-to-agree-to-disagree-266062\\\/\",\"name\":\"Is it reasonable to \u2018agree to disagree\u2019?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/is-it-reasonable-to-agree-to-disagree-266062\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/is-it-reasonable-to-agree-to-disagree-266062\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/fea-agree-disagree.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-08-31T17:41:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-09-07T14:13:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/442b2a3bb25330f6067579b6ae13adbb\"},\"description\":\"When people disagree, and all involved believe their position to be reasonable, what\u2019s to be done? That\u2019s a question that underlies a fall lecture series.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/is-it-reasonable-to-agree-to-disagree-266062\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/is-it-reasonable-to-agree-to-disagree-266062\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/is-it-reasonable-to-agree-to-disagree-266062\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/fea-agree-disagree.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/fea-agree-disagree.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":600,\"caption\":\"In a three-lecture series this fall, philosopher and former Dean of the College Richard Feldman examines what it means for reasonable people to disagree. (Unsplash photo \\\/ Drew Hayes)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/is-it-reasonable-to-agree-to-disagree-266062\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Is it reasonable to \u2018agree to disagree\u2019?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/\",\"name\":\"News Center\",\"description\":\"Ä¢¹½´«Ã½\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/442b2a3bb25330f6067579b6ae13adbb\",\"name\":\"Kathleen McGarvey\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/author\\\/kmcgarvey\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Is it reasonable to \u2018agree to disagree\u2019?","description":"When people disagree, and all involved believe their position to be reasonable, what\u2019s to be done? That\u2019s a question that underlies a fall lecture series.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/is-it-reasonable-to-agree-to-disagree-266062\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Is it reasonable to \u2018agree to disagree\u2019?","og_description":"When people disagree, and all involved believe their position to be reasonable, what\u2019s to be done? That\u2019s a question that underlies a fall lecture series.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/is-it-reasonable-to-agree-to-disagree-266062\/","og_site_name":"News Center","article_published_time":"2017-08-31T17:41:06+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-09-07T14:13:24+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/fea-agree-disagree.jpg","width":1000,"height":600,"type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kathleen McGarvey","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kathleen McGarvey","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/is-it-reasonable-to-agree-to-disagree-266062\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/is-it-reasonable-to-agree-to-disagree-266062\/"},"author":{"name":"Kathleen McGarvey","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/442b2a3bb25330f6067579b6ae13adbb"},"headline":"Is it reasonable to \u2018agree to disagree\u2019?","datePublished":"2017-08-31T17:41:06+00:00","dateModified":"2017-09-07T14:13:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/is-it-reasonable-to-agree-to-disagree-266062\/"},"wordCount":455,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/is-it-reasonable-to-agree-to-disagree-266062\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/fea-agree-disagree.jpg","keywords":["Department of Philosophy","events","Richard Feldman","School of Arts and Sciences"],"articleSection":["Society & Culture"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/is-it-reasonable-to-agree-to-disagree-266062\/","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/is-it-reasonable-to-agree-to-disagree-266062\/","name":"Is it reasonable to \u2018agree to disagree\u2019?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/is-it-reasonable-to-agree-to-disagree-266062\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/is-it-reasonable-to-agree-to-disagree-266062\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/fea-agree-disagree.jpg","datePublished":"2017-08-31T17:41:06+00:00","dateModified":"2017-09-07T14:13:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/442b2a3bb25330f6067579b6ae13adbb"},"description":"When people disagree, and all involved believe their position to be reasonable, what\u2019s to be done? That\u2019s a question that underlies a fall lecture series.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/is-it-reasonable-to-agree-to-disagree-266062\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/is-it-reasonable-to-agree-to-disagree-266062\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/is-it-reasonable-to-agree-to-disagree-266062\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/fea-agree-disagree.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/fea-agree-disagree.jpg","width":1000,"height":600,"caption":"In a three-lecture series this fall, philosopher and former Dean of the College Richard Feldman examines what it means for reasonable people to disagree. (Unsplash photo \/ Drew Hayes)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/is-it-reasonable-to-agree-to-disagree-266062\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Is it reasonable to \u2018agree to disagree\u2019?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/","name":"News Center","description":"Ä¢¹½´«Ã½","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/442b2a3bb25330f6067579b6ae13adbb","name":"Kathleen McGarvey","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/author\/kmcgarvey\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/752"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266062"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266062\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":267472,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266062\/revisions\/267472"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}