We Sauntered upon an article by Frank L. Ryan, former professor at Stonehill College, in which he talks of the need to break down barriers between those with different points of view. A starting step for this is sympathy of those with one point of view for those with another. But, citing Walter Lippmann, he points out another step is required:
Unfortunately, this sympathy can degenerate into that easy tolerance of which Walter Lippmann wrote. This kind of tolerance, Lippmann contended, prides itself on the willingness with which it permits other points of view to be expressed but simultaneously feels no obligation to listen. Every utterance of another man, he implied, should be the occasion for a potential change in our views - and such a change requires more than mere tolerance. It requires on each man’s part such a disposition of mind toward a speaker that a dialectic reception of other views is attained, and cherished ideas and ideals suffer the possibility of modification and even extinction.
Unfortunately, this sympathy can degenerate into that easy tolerance of which Walter Lippmann wrote. This kind of tolerance, Lippmann contended, prides itself on the willingness with which it permits other points of view to be expressed but simultaneously feels no obligation to listen. Every utterance of another man, he implied, should be the occasion for a potential change in our views - and such a change requires more than mere tolerance. It requires on each man’s part such a disposition of mind toward a speaker that a dialectic reception of other views is attained, and cherished ideas and ideals suffer the possibility of modification and even extinction.
(Quoted from “Heuristic Studies,” by Frank L. Ryan. The American Biology Teacher, May 1972, 276-281.) For a brief biography of Walter Lippmann, click here.
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