Skip to main content

Science Quote by Clifford Geertz

"I don't feel that an atmosphere of debate and total disagreement and argument is such a bad thing. It makes for a vital and alive field"

About this Quote

Geertz is giving dissent a glow-up: not as dysfunction, but as the oxygen that keeps a discipline from becoming a museum. Coming from an anthropologist whose signature move was to treat cultures as dense, interpretable “texts,” the line reads like a preemptive strike against the craving for neat consensus that often shadows anything calling itself a science. He’s not romanticizing chaos; he’s defending friction as a diagnostic tool. If everyone agrees too quickly, it’s usually because the questions have been sanded down to fit the available methods.

The intent is also institutional. Anthropology in Geertz’s era was perpetually litigating its identity: hard-science measurement versus humanistic interpretation, universal laws versus local meanings, fieldwork as data extraction versus fieldwork as relationship. “Total disagreement” nods to those fault lines without naming names, a diplomatic way of blessing pluralism while quietly warning against gatekeeping. He frames argument as “vital and alive,” borrowing the language of organisms and ecosystems; a field that can’t metabolize critique is already intellectually sick.

Subtext: debate is not just tolerated, it’s productive because the subject matter won’t sit still. Cultures change, observers bring their own baggage, and interpretation is never final. Geertz’s stance legitimizes competing readings as evidence the terrain is complex, not that the scholars are failing. It’s a credo for disciplines built on ambiguity: the point isn’t to win the argument, it’s to keep the questions sharp enough that reality can still cut.

Quote Details

TopicKnowledge
SourceHelp us find the source
Cite

Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Geertz, Clifford. (2026, January 15). I don't feel that an atmosphere of debate and total disagreement and argument is such a bad thing. It makes for a vital and alive field. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-dont-feel-that-an-atmosphere-of-debate-and-145667/

Chicago Style
Geertz, Clifford. "I don't feel that an atmosphere of debate and total disagreement and argument is such a bad thing. It makes for a vital and alive field." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-dont-feel-that-an-atmosphere-of-debate-and-145667/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I don't feel that an atmosphere of debate and total disagreement and argument is such a bad thing. It makes for a vital and alive field." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-dont-feel-that-an-atmosphere-of-debate-and-145667/. Accessed 22 Feb. 2026.

More Quotes by Clifford Add to List
Clifford Geertz on Debate and Intellectual Vitality
Click to enlarge Portrait | Landscape

About the Author

Clifford Geertz

Clifford Geertz (August 23, 1926 - October 30, 2006) was a Scientist from USA.

31 more quotes available

View Profile

Similar Quotes

Geraldine Ferraro, Politician
Geraldine Ferraro
Kitty O'Neill Collins, Politician