self-censorship
Political Hostility and Willingness to Discriminate in Philosophy
A new study of nearly 800 academic philosophers provides support for several claims about their political views, perceptions of politics-based hostility, and willingness to engage in politics-based discrimination. (more…)
Mini-Heap
Time for a new Mini-Heap. (more…)
Do Professors Penalize Conservative Students?
“There’s been a lot of talk lately about self-censorship on campus. According to one popular theory, conservative students censor themselves because they believe that if they state their true views, they will get a lower grade. This theory is true.” (more…)
Why I Don’t Usually Respond to Professor Leiter: An Example
In my recent post, “It’s Complicated,” I responded to a criticism of me published by Brian Leiter at his blog, Leiter Reports.
In my post, I wrote that “I usually don’t respond to Professor Leiter’s remarks about me,” though I did not say why. One reason is that to respond adequately to them here would divert Daily Nous away from its purpose. DN is supposed to be..
“Journal of Controversial Ideas” with Pseudonymous Authors to Launch Next Year
A new interdisciplinary journal in the works will publish pseudonymously-authored peer-reviewed articles in an attempt to protect its contributors from the negative repercussions of arguing for or discussing controversial ideas. (more…)
A Neglected Philosophical Pessimist — For Our Times?
The following is a guest post* by on an English translation of On the Tragic by Norwegian philosopher Peter Zapffe, known for his pessimistic views.
Offend Responsibly
The thing I always like to stress is that although academics have the right to offend, they must do so responsibly, and they must to be able to defend the origin of the academic freedom of the right to offend and show that they exercise it in a way that’s as responsible as possible. Sometimes this means, if there is something on your syllabus that troubles a student..
“Uncomfortable Truths” about Academic Freedom
We’ve discussed academic freedom at Daily Nous before (for example: Thoughts on Academic Freedom, Are We Being Chilled?, Strategies for Keeping Warm, Microaggressions and Academic Freedom). One thing I’ve been concerned with is the extent to which the very few actual cases in which a professor’s academic freedom has been violated owing to the expression of unpopular..
Political Bias in Philosophy
Philosophers may be lovers of truth, but that doesn’t mean they are exempt from the cognitive biases that bedevil humans generally. Given that philosophers often have strongly-held political opinions, it’s worth asking: To what extent are their opinions conveyed in their academic writings? If political bias is present, then how does it influence the discipline? To t..