What are civic dispositions?
In general, a disposition is an attitude of inclination or a tendency to favor some beliefs or actions over others. Here are some examples of civic dispositions:
- willingness to place individual goods in the context of the good of the community as a whole.
- readiness to participate constructively and productively in collective problem-solving and decision-making
- willingness to include rather than exclude
- inclination to cooperate rather than compete, coerce, or manipulate
- preference for open-minded inquiry versus winning a debate
- listening to comprehend rather than to respond competitively
- achieving a sound judgment rather than a numerical victory
- accepting that a group may know more and be capable of sounder judgment than an individual (with regard to collective problems, needs, etc.); readiness to learn
- inclination to identify with soundness of the process of inquiry rather than the pre-determined rightness of views
- rejection of competitive browbeating in favor of collaborative inquiry and problem-solving
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