8.14.2012

The Character of Criticism


I've been thinking a lot lately about what it means to be critical, and whether criticism is a virtue, with varying degree's of implementation or whether it's a practise, which has more of a fixed character. I want to know whether being critical is part of someone's character, or has a character of it's own.
These meanderings are by no means a proper paper yet, but maybe a continuation of my research in Testimonial Injustice.
    A bit of background first. I go to a school where even the geography department's course syllabi's have the phrase "critical thinking" in them. It is one of our school's most marketable features, students' ability to question what they are being told. But I find that many of the most awkward conversations I've had inside and out of the classroom have been with self-righteous students, claiming that their dismissive attitude is merely "being critical." Criticism becomes the veil for (usually masculine) hyper-aggression and shows of intellectual power. Insults and criticism should not be difficult to decipher from one another.
     Indeed, being critical is a sign of respect but only when done respectfully and with a degree of care. Careless criticism is sloppy criticism. If reckless abandon leads to the "critical" party to attack an argument in vague terms, or attack an inferior interpretation of the argument, then no progress can be made. And there in lies the goal of criticism, progress, helping, aid. When you're being critical of a project, you re contributing to it. So what kind of contribution are you making? Many crucial contributions are made in poor spirit, but is the poor spirit really necessary? Do you really need to be out to get someone or something to be critical of it?
    This has lead me to wonder whether criticism has to be this thing wherein there is a harsh overtone of righteousness, like somehow just by being critical you're doing the right thing or behaving in a respectful manner. Or can we have some humility when criticising? If criticism is a virtue, then thoughtlessness is its lack and being over-critical is its excess. But "being over-critical" is not the same thing as bullying with criticism. Over-critical to me means being critical where criticism has no place, like when someone is joking. What I am talking about is not about the logical components of what makes good criticism, but what are the emotional components of launching said criticism.
    Just something to keep in mind when launching your next criticism. That an assault on someone's ideas is a serious thing and should be handled with care if we are going to create thriving, healthy epistemic communities instead of anxiety filled intellectual battlefields.

No comments:

Post a Comment