The beauty of an argument

Here is an Article I read several years ago. Written by John Leo and printed in U.S. News & World Report, it laments how the art of debate has been lost. It reminds me of a friend who invites my wife and I to dinner on a regular basis. However, she forbids political conversation at dinner (or any other time for that matter). This is unfortunate because I enjoy other peoples' points of view and the opportunity to find out why they think the way that they do.

John Leo stated:

Tip O'Neill and Ronald Reagan fought sharply during the day but enjoyed having the occasional drink or two together after work. In the old days, William F. Buckley Jr. would hold public debates with all comers (I recall Arthur Schlesinger Jr. and Steve Allen), then go out to a pleasant dinner with his opponent. Nowadays, Buckley or his adversary would probably be required to take umbrage, hurl some insult, then stomp out in a snit. I caught the tail end of the civil-argument culture when Garry Wills and I started out many years ago as the original columnists in the National Catholic Reporter. We would frequently attack each other's ideas, but it never affected our friendship. Why should it?

For the complete article got to: The beauty of argument