Agree to disagree

The term "agree to disagree" or " to " is a phrase in English referring to the resolution of a conflict (usually a debate or ) whereby all parties tolerate but do not the opposing position(s). It generally occurs when all sides recognise that further conflict would be unnecessary, ineffective or otherwise undesirable. They may also remain on amicable terms while continuing to disagree about the unresolved issues.

The phrase "agree to disagree" first appeared in print in 1770 when, at the death of George Whitefield, John Wesley wrote a memorial sermon which acknowledged, but downplayed, the two men's doctrinal differences:

There are many doctrines of a less essential nature ... In these we may think and let think; we may 'agree to disagree.' But, meantime, let us hold fast the essentials...

Wesley was the first to put the phrase "agree to disagree" in print, but he enclosed it in quotation marks. In a subsequent letter to his brother Charles, Wesley attributed it to Whitefield (presumably George Whitefield): "If you agree with me, well: if not, we can, as Mr. Whitefield used to say, agree to disagree." Whitefield had used it in a letter as early as June 29, 1750.

The phrase "agree to differ" predates "agree to disagree", having appeared in the early part of the century in a sermon by John Piggott: "And now why should we not agree to differ, without either enmity or scorn?" (Sermon on Union and Peace, preach'd to several Congregations, April 17, 1704). It expresses a similar idea without the play on words.

A related phrase, normally reserved for informal and temporary arrangements in political affairs, is the Latin phrase "modus vivendi" (literally, "way of living"), and it is used in the same manner as "agree to disagree". However, it can be viewed as a thought-terminating cliché in certain circumstances.

Game theorist and mathematician Robert Aumann argues that two people with common prior probability cannot "agree to disagree" on posterior probabilities (on predicting the likelihood of outcomes, the theorem makes no statement on preference or value judgement regarding outcomes).

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