Deep Disagreements and Political Polarization

Abstract

In deep disagreements, parties disagree about relatively fundamental underlying moral or epistemic principles and therefore see each other as less than fully rational or morally subpar. The chapter argues that deep disagreements lead to both cognitive and practical polarization, especially when they concern matters that are central to people’s social identities: deeply disagreeing parties will think less of each other and tend to treat each other worse. This, in turn, entrenches their disagreement even further, resulting in a vicious feedback loop. Support for the claims made here comes from both conceptual connections between deep disagreement and polarization as well as widely established empirical results in psychology and political science.

Deep Disagreement (Part 1): Theories of Deep Disagreement

“…This means that, from A's perspective, revising their disputed belief would commit them to revising many of their other beliefs. This phenomenon is frequently noted in the literature (see de Ridder, 2021;Fogelin, 2005;Lavorerio, 2021;Ranalli, 2018). To see how this works, consider:…”

“…Some disagreements are persistent and seemingly intractable, like certain disagreements about vaccine safety, the existence of God, or whether a fetus is a person (Carter, 2021 ; de Ridder, 2021 ; Talisse, 2013 ). Many of them are cases of deep disagreement .…”

“…Deep disagreements are glossed in different ways. As “clashes of perspective” (Kappel, 2021 ); “fundamental” disagreements (Smith & Lynch, 2021 ); disagreements about our “most basic commitments” (Pritchard, 2021 ); as well as disagreements arising out of the “different worldviews” of the disagreeing parties (de Ridder, 2021 ; Hazlett, 2014 ; Matheson, 2021 ).…”

“…11 11 See Ranalli (2018) for this objection and a reply. De Ridder (2021) develops a Fundamental Normative Principle theory in its place. …”

Cognitive Peerhood, Epistemic Disdain, and Affective Polarisation: The Perils of Disagreeing Deeply

“…I am not the first to note the link between deep disagreements and affective polarization (e.g., De Ridder, 2021). In fact, Michael P. Lynch refers to the phenomenon analysed in this paper:…”