academic freedom

April 7, 2021

Some Problems with Complaisance.

If something doesn’t bother me, e.g. the F-word, why should I be bothered that it bothers you? Let’s start with friendship. As Aristotle notes, “[Friends are] those with whom we are on such terms that, while we respect their opinions, we need not blush before them for doing what is conventionally wrong…” (Aristotle. Rhetoric. Trans. Continue reading

Philosophy, Social and Political Commentary

academic freedom, aristotle, boundaries, censorship, communication, complaisance, conversation, friends, friendship, Hobbes, impase, interpersonal, interpersonal stress, Law, Mao, negotiation, policy, professor, scholarship, stress, student, university
January 26, 2021

Thoughtlets. xxix.

Today’s Thoughtlet is a quote on freedom of expression that originates with Tacitus, a Roman historian who lived in the first century CE. This quote, translated as follows, appears in Latin on the title page of the first edition of Hume’s A Treatise of Human Nature, “Seldom are men blessed with times in which they may Continue reading

Thoughtlets

academic freedom, free speech, freedom of expression, freedom of thought, history, Hume, Philosophy, political correctness, quote, Tacitus
October 12, 2020

Thoughtlets. xxiv.

It’s good epistemic practice not only to have gatekeepers in science and scholarship, but also to have others beating at the gates to ensure the freedom of movement of ideas – using a battering ram, if required. In which measure it’s required is anyone’s guess. Too little force might result in stagnation, too much, a Continue reading

Thoughtlets

academic freedom, constraints, gatekeeping, Liberty, paradigm shift, scholarship, science, stagnation

academic freedom

Some Problems with Complaisance.

Thoughtlets. xxix.

Thoughtlets. xxiv.