Sure we'd invite Hitler to speak, says Columbia dean

So...what's wrong with inviting Hitler to a debate so he can be proven wrong to the point where he's on his knees crying? God forbid the debate actually changes his mind on some issues! There goes Fox News again, trying to demonize any institution that advocates free thinking and debate, the lifeblood of all democracies. They really would be an appropriate media outlet for a country like North Korea.

AMEN!

Having mock-debates on such subject matter may be a good idea, but having real debates on such subject matter is morally reprehensible. I can see justified complaints from Blacks regarding debates on slavery or Jews regarding debates on the Holocaust or women regarding sexism.

what's the difference between a mock debate and a real debate?

My apologies. I should have responded earlier. The Steven Douglass/Abraham Lincoln debates are often re-enacted. They are mock-debates as it's really actors playing roles. The same would occur in a mock debate - actors, scripts, etc. Does that help?

Maybe I should rephrase. How could someone have a mock debate on something they wouldn't be allowed to discuss in a real debate?

That's easy. It would be scripted to make a point as is done in plays and movies. Let me ask you: Would you like to debate the reality of the slave trade? One person says that either it didn't happen or that Blacks came voluntarily on cruise ships, while the other says it did and was a terrible event. That would be a real debate. It is a hypothetical question. I think that some things are beyond the realm of debate for moral reasons.

It hope it's fine if I butt into this convo. Aegius, the difficulty with choosing who can say what, is just that. Who decides exactly what can be said. People run into a lot of problems in abstractly defining appropriate speech. Yes, you're right. Evil ideas may possibly find root. Yet we must have faith in the ability of people to think independantly. Otherwise, their beliefs are not really theirs, but the beliefs of others. People must think for themselves in order to maintain dignity.

You have a good point. Look, I am concerned that inviting certain persons of poor moral character to speak may be viewed as a form of putting such people on pesdestals. Not everyone can go to a university to speak. I shouldn't be allowed as I have not achieved significant status as a Congressperson, senator, head of a company, etc. has.

What you're suggesting is the same thing the catholic church tried to do before the reformation. Arbitrarily assigning a moral value to people (even as you just did to yourself) and what they say only leads to oppression. Allowing someone to speak is not putting them up on a pedestal - It's allowing them to speak.