Topics Education

Question Is convincing a person they are wrong not a form of indoctrination? After all, it involves changing the way people think such that it conforms with one's own views. Is it not censorship? Since putting opinions in the wrong clearly prevents them from being expressed.

Accepted:
August 10, 2011

Comments

Let's suppose you say to me "How's your brother Paul?" I say "My brother is fine, but actually his name is Peter." Most likely that will be enough to convince you. And unless your reactions are rather unusual, you're likely just to ay something like "Oh. Yes. Guess I got mixed up." It would be really odd to call this indoctrination.

Or suppose I've been working on a budget and I send you the figures. You tell me that the total is off by $2,000. I don't believe you, so you work through the math with me, pointing out where I made a mistake. And I end up agreeing. Still nothing that seems like indoctrination.

However, those may not be the sorts of cases you have in mind, so try this one.

Suppose George thinks that women shouldn't be allowed to run for public office. Mary asks why. George gives his reasons, which reflect false beliefs about women's intelligence, emotions and so on. Mary engages him in a long, calm discussion, after which George agrees that his views reflected various kinds of prejudice and misinformation. George reconsiders his view and no longer says that women shouldn't be allowed to run for office. Still doesn't seem like indoctrination. Mary has persuaded George to change his mind by offering him reasons. She hasn't coerced him and she hasn't manipulated him. She also hasn't "prevented" him from expressing his former view except insofar as she's helped him see that it wasn't a well-thought out view to begin with.

If I enter into a discussion with you to try to persuade you of my view, then so long as I'm offering serious arguments and reasons, the word "indoctrination" seems very odd. The hallmark of indoctrination is intellectual manipulation that gets in the way of being moved by facts and reasons. And to censor someone is to prevent them from expressing a view that they actually want to express. If I've given up a view because I've come to see that it's mistaken, I haven't been censored; I don't want to express the view anymore.

Indoctrination and rational persuasion have something in common: when they succeed, someone's views change. But they also differ. Indoctrination doesn't show respect for the person it's practiced on; it simply manipulates them. Likewise, censorship and rational persuasion have something in common: when they succeed, some view that might have been expressed isn't. But they differ too. Censorship goes against the will of the person censored; rational persuasion engages their will.

All of which suggests some obvious final thoughts: if this seems reasonable to you, then you may no longer hold the view you started out with. But if it seems reasonable, I hope that's because it stands up to reflection. And if it doesn't, you're more than free to say so and say why.