Quiet Conversations with Ryan Muldoon - Disagreement, Pluralism, and How to Reason Together
Schedule
Thu, 26 Mar, 2026 at 06:00 pm
UTC-04:00Location
19 Wadsworth Street, Buffalo, NY, United States, New York 14201 | Buffalo, NY
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We are living in a time when disagreement feels increasingly difficult to navigate. Across politics, culture, and even within families, people who once shared common ground often find it harder to communicate across differences. We do not simply disagree about policies; we sometimes approach issues from fundamentally different perspectivesDoors open at 5:30 PM
Conversation begins at 6:00 PM
General Admission: $18
Tickets are non-refundable and non-exchangeable; transfers are permitted.
Complimentary tea and cookies will be offered. Drinks will be available for purchase.
Food service will not be available.
Quiet Conversations is a PAUSA series focused on listening, reflection, and meaningful dialogue. These intimate evenings invite us to slow down, listen deeply, and move toward clarity and presence through guided conversation. Held in the quiet warmth of PAUSA, this conversation is meant to be experienced fully present, in a room where attention matters and dialogue unfolds naturally.
Ryan Muldoon is Professor of Philosophy at the University at Buffalo. He is the author of Social Contract Theory for a Diverse World (2016), where he develops “New Diversity Theory,” an approach that explores how diversity and differing perspectives shape social and political life. His work bridges philosophy, politics, and economics, and he previously served as a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania and a Core Author of the World Bank’s 2015 World Development Report.
We are living in a time when disagreement feels increasingly difficult to navigate. Across politics, culture, and even within families, people who once shared common ground often find it harder to communicate across differences. We do not simply disagree about policies; we sometimes approach issues from fundamentally different perspectives
In this Quiet Conversations evening, Professor Ryan Muldoon explores why. Drawing from his work in political philosophy and his development of “New Diversity Theory,” Muldoon argues that many of our deepest conflicts are not simply about values, they arise from fundamentally different perspectives on how the world works. That realization can make disagreement feel more unsettling. But it can also create space for something better than forced consensus.
Rather than imagining ideal citizens who perfectly agree on justice, Muldoon focuses on people like us, limited, differently motivated, often in tension, yet still capable of coordinating, learning, and holding institutions accountable. In a diverse society, disagreement is inevitable. The question is whether it becomes fragmentation… or discovery.
We’ll explore:
Why polarization persists even among intelligent, good-faith people
How speech environments and social norms can unintentionally deepen division
Why searching for a “final” political agreement may be the wrong goal
What it would mean to treat pluralism not as a threat, but as a resource
This is not a debate night. It is not a partisan forum. It is a space to ask whether we can reason together, even when we do not see the world the same way. As always, we slow down. We listen. We speak carefully. And we allow complexity to remain complexity.
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Where is it happening?
19 Wadsworth Street, Buffalo, NY, United States, New York 14201Event Location & Nearby Stays:
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