Disagreement

Regardless of who you are or how you live your life, you disagreewith millions of people on an enormous number of topics frompolitics, religion and morality to sport, culture and art. Unlessyou are delusional, you are aware that a great many of the peoplewho disagree with you are just as smart and thoughtful as you are -in fact, you know that often they are smarter and more informed.But believing someone to be cleverer or more knowledgeable about aparticular topic usually won't change your mind. Shouldit?

This book is devoted to exploring this quandary - what should we dowhen we encounter disagreement, particularly when we believesomeone is more of an authority on a subject than we are? Thequestion is of enormous importance, both in the public arena and inour personal lives. Disagreement over marriages, beliefs, friendships and more causes immense personal strife. People withpolitical power disagree about how to spend enormous amounts ofmoney, about what laws to pass, or about wars to fight. If only wewere better able to resolve our disagreements, we would probablysave millions of lives and prevent millions of others from livingin poverty.

The first full-length text-book on this philosophical topic, Disagreement provides students with the tools they need tounderstand the burgeoning academic literature and its (oftenconflicting) perspectives. Including case studies, sample questionsand chapter summaries, this engaging and accessible book is theperfect starting point for students and anyone interested inthinking about the possibilities and problems of this fundamentalphilosophical debate.