Commentary Historically, universities were institutions devoted to the pursuit of truth. It was a search guided by Socratic humility and Pascal’s dictum that “we know too much to be skeptics and too little to be dogmatists.” Contrary to romantic myths, there was never a time of cozy accord in university life, and academic disputations are well known for their ferocity. But until recent years, intellectual opponents could respectfully disagree. Professors believed in argumentation and disputation—what the Greeks called the dialectic—as the way to truth. Scholars kept in mind the Biblical injunction to “Come, let us reason together.” Professors engaged in civil debate, avoiding ad hominin attacks while recognizing superior reasoning and better evidence. Disagreements could, of course, be explosive. Nevertheless, there was a tacit agreement about intellectual norms, including the spirit of generosity. One listened respectfully to intellectual adversaries, conceding when they had a better argument or better evidence. Western …