The Sentinel Morning Post: The Danger of Dead Dogma: Why You Must Debate Your Beliefs

John Stuart Mill

Is democracy actually that good? Is free speech important? Does a human life really matter that much? It might be that you have answers to these questions, but according to J.S. Mill, until you actually pause to answer them, they are just "dead dogma."

Every society inherits its beliefs. We are taught by our parents and schools to believe certain things, and these form an unquestioned background to everyday life. Things like: be polite, don't get angry, respect everybody regardless of who they are.

According to Mill, if we don't revisit and reappraise these beliefs from time to time, they will fall into what he calls dead dogma. If we do not debate them, we will not see if they are worth anything or not, and we will not defend things that we cannot find the value in.

If nobody makes the case for toleration, free speech, or the value of human life, then nobody will bother to stand up for them. And so, these assumptions linger on like some forgotten, irrelevant background feature, and they will disappear without a fuss or a fight.

So we need to welcome rival opinions. We need to welcome debate, dissent, and argument. We need to test the worth of our beliefs. Because if we test them, and we find that they cannot withstand any opposition whatsoever, the chances are that those beliefs weren't worth holding in the first place.