On July 31, Duke professor Michael Munger gave a Milton Friedman Day talk for the Pope Center, and his topic was an arresting one — he argued that higher ed really fails with leftist students because their views are hardly ever challenged. They don’t have to learn to make good arguments when confronted by opposing views. They rarely have the benefit of what John Stuart Mill called “the collision with error.” In today’s Clarion Call, we excerpt his talk.
I think Professor Munger is right in saying that leftist students are seldom challenged (his own courses are notable exceptions1) but I can’t agree that conservative and libertarians students necessary get much of an education in that regard either. I fear that instead of actually challenging their arguments with counter-arguments, leftist professors usually denigrate them, insult them, and impugn their motives. Instead of benefiting from intelligent exchanges in class or through papers, students who dissent from leftist orthodoxy merely learn how dogmatic their professors can be.