Well, it's early in the morning, and I'm not sure I'm getting my brain
around this one. But it seems to me that
> You also seem confused about academic freedom. Traditionally, that
> freedom protects scholars who have already demonstrated their competence
> in their fields from negative consequences when they move into unpopular
> areas of research. It means that university administrators cannot dictate
> to tenured professors what lines of research they may, or must, pursue,
> and that people cannot be fired for unpopular research. As Princeton's
> "Commitment to Community" shows, academic freedom is never absolute.
> Scholars who violate the rules of conduct at a university, whether tenured
> or not, are subject to dismissal. And Singer is, and clearly is, in
> violation of Princeton's rules. This fall, he will be teaching four books
> to a seminar of graduate students. One of those books, "Rethinking Life
> and Death," is entirely composed of teachings in violations to Princeton's
> "Commitment." Moreover, he was in violation of Princeton's "Commitment to
> Community" at the time they recruited him. This isn't about the upholding
> of academic freedom, it's about recruiting people who are known to be in
> violation of the rules governing academic standards.
contains some very restricted ideas about what academic freedom consists
of, and what the process of teaching entails. For instance, what would
we be left with if we could *only* teach from books that were entirely
consistent with one university's notion of appropriate behaviour within
its 'community'? (Answer: not much, and practically nothing predating
this century.)
It also disturbs me that Stephen's post implies teaching involves such
privileged speech, ie shoving your own propaganda unopposed into
receptive young minds. Certainly at university level, and certainly at
the graduate level Stephen mentions, the process is not one-way. I was
taught 0-level history by a paid-up anarcho-Communist (except I suppose
the anarcho bit meant he didn't pay anything :)) with a captive audience
of impressionable 15 year olds in not-very-intellectually-demanding
school. It made for some lively discussions and I don't think any of us
became communists. So I'd trust Princeton students to be able to give
Singer a run for his money.
Best wishes
Jackie
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