LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Wisdom for our culturally volatile moment

“Be egalitarian regarding people, but be elitist when it comes to ideas. Treat people with respect; treat ideas with differing respect, because some [ideas] are better than others.”

I scribbled down the above words years ago from a lecture by philosopher Francis J. Beckwith, a lecture whose title and date I’ve forgotten. I notice that apologist Gregory Koukl attributes the quote to philosopher Peter Kreeft in Koukl’s article, “The Myth of Tolerance,” Christian Research Journal, Volume 24, Number 4 (2002). Regardless of who the actual author is, the words are wonderful words of wisdom.

Before I retired from Providence University College, I would introduce the above quote to my philosophy students during the first week or so of classes. In view of our present culturally volatile moment, I think it is appropriate to review these wise words once again.

Why be egalitarian regarding people? Answer: Because they each have great worth. Because they each are made in God’s image. People should be respected, even though we might disagree with them.

Why be elitist when it comes to ideas? Because some ideas are better than others. To be elitist with regard to ideas is to strive for the best ideas—ideas that are true, excellent, and praiseworthy. And we should strive for the best ideas while remaining humble and respecting people who might disagree.

Surely, some ideas are better than others. Here are some examples: (a) Driving with lights on at night rather than off; (b) chewing gum rather than glass; (c) 5+5=10 versus 5+5=11; (d) democracy versus totalitarianism; (e) loving your neighbour versus hating your neighbour; (f) seeking truth versus remaining ignorant of truth; (g) realizing that polite truth-seeking conversation is not hate speech; (h) being open to understanding others (in context) rather than misrepresenting their views (out of context); (i) having polite truth-seeking conversation with those with whom we disagree rather than assassinating them.

We can discern whether an idea or claim is good or true on the basis of the arguments (reasons and evidence) that can be mustered in defence of that idea or claim. Arguments (respectful truth-seeking conversations involving reasons and evidence) allow us to make informed judgments. But to pursue truth we have to make the effort to think carefully.

Here is a helpful description of what Beckwith/Kreeft is up to (from a former student, with permission):

“Beckwith [or Kreeft] is illustrating the difference between judging people for their ideas, and judging the ideas themselves. He is promoting the [correct] sense of tolerance—namely that of maintaining respect for others regardless of whether or not we agree with their views and beliefs. That we should be ‘egalitarian regarding people’ indicates that an individual’s right to opinion should be respected, and that his/her individual worth should not be judged on the basis of these opinions. The opinions themselves, however, ‘ideas’ in Beckwith’s [or Kreeft’s] quote, should in all cases be judged for their correctness. These two principles allow one to maintain a compassionate and amicable attitude toward other people, and an openness to hearing new ideas, while also striving toward an understanding of truth and correctness by evaluating each of these ideas carefully and without bias.”