freedom of speech
TagThe Charade of Banning “Advocacy”
“Leaders at these institutions want to ban only certain topics from discussion. To do so, they have issued vague directives that no one knows how to interpret.” (more…)
Columbia Philosophy Major Again Faces Deportation Threat
Last April, Mohsen Mahdawi, then a philosophy major at Columbia University, was attending a US citizenship application interview in Vermont when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents wearing hoods and masks took him from the building, put him into an unmarked car, and drove off. (more…)
Speech under Authoritarianism (updated)
Governments in the United States are ramping up their attacks on freedom of speech, with state and federal officials getting people—including professors—fired or investigated for expressing their opinions about public figures, and the president suggesting he will shut down media that is critical of him and his allies. (more…)
What Will It Be Like To Be An Academic In Ten Years?
Many of you reading these words are young or middle-aged academics. Many of you envision yourselves continuing to work or starting careers in academia. (more…)
Trump’s Halting of Harvard’s Funding Ruled Illegal
Yesterday, Judge Allison D. Burroughs of the U.S. District Court in Boston vacated the Trump administration’s orders to freeze or terminate billions of dollars in federal funding to Harvard University, calling them “arbitrary and capricious” and “violative of the First Amendment.” (more…)
Stanford’s Student Newspaper Sues Federal Government
The Stanford Daily, Stanford University’s independently run student newspaper, and two of its student staff, are suing Marco Rubio, in his capacity as Secretary of State, and Kristi Noem, in her capacity as Secretary of Homeland Security, for violating their First Amendment rights. (more…)
On “Chilling Effects” and the “Rowdiness” of Free Speech
“Whatever reasons there are that might justify the state saying that free speech is not being protected, the fact that some people felt intimidated by the permitted rowdy and contentious speech of others cannot be among them. (more…)
Israeli Gov’t Cancels Philosopher Who’s a Grandson of a Holocaust Survivor
Omri Boehm, associate professor of philosophy at the New School for Social Research, was scheduled to speak at the Buchenwald concentration camp liberation anniversary celebration this weekend. (more…)
Students Protest, a Philosopher is Knifed, and Faculty are Unpaid in Serbia
Natalija Jovanović, dean of the Philosophy Faculty at the University of Niš in Serbia, was attending a student protest when a woman who opposed the protest reportedly threatened to throw acid on her and then cut her with a knife. (more…)
Columbia, Trump, and the Peril of Appeasement
On March 13th, the Trump administration sent Columbia University a list of demands it must meet as a precondition for restoring $400 million in grant funding to the university that the administration had cancelled. Last Friday, Columbia University said it would meet those demands. (more…)
Defending Freedom of Speech & Thought at Universities
“Freedom of thought and expression is indispensable to the mission of a modern research university.” (more…)
Trump’s Threat to Universities about “Illegal Protests”
Yesterday President Trump threatened via social media to stop “all federal funding” for “any College, School, or University that allows “illegal protests”. (more…)
Protests & Universities
“A university is special to the extent that it is a place where teaching and learning replace fighting and grandstanding.”
Dear University President, You Could Run Out the Clock
“It’s been shocking how impoverished, craven, and imprudent the leadership of the Anglophone’s wealthiest and flagship universities have been this past year.” (more…)
University of California Faculty Statement on Protests
“We believe that the ability to protest nonviolently is essential to our democracy and a basic human right that must be respected and protected.” (more…)
Italian Philosopher Prosecuted for Criticizing Politician’s Views
Donatella Di Cesare, a professor of philosophy at Sapienza University (Rome), has been charged with “criminal defamation” for describing a politician’s views as “neo-Hitlerite.” (more…)
Philosophical Norms & Cancel Culture
There are “certain norms that prevail in the discipline of philosophy that are threatened by the new communication environment,” according to Joseph Heath (Toronto). (more…)
Sensitivity Reading Services for Philosophers and Others
Lex Academic, the editing firm founded by philosophers Louise Chapman and Constantine Sandis, includes “sensitivity reading” among the variety of services it provides. (more…)
Guess Which Philosopher Got Booted From Twitter/X (Multiple Updates)
A philosopher recently got banned from Twitter/X. Can you guess who it is?
Here’s a hint: just remember that Twitter/X is currently our best known approximation of Bizarro World. (more…)
Academic Freedom & Violence: The Kershnar Case Continues
Lawyers for Steven Kershnar argued, in a hearing earlier this month, that the philosophy professor should be allowed back on the SUNY Fredonia campus, where he has long been employed. (more…)
Philosophy Lecturerer Allegedly Involuntarily Committed for Supporting Protestors
According to Radio Free Asia (RFA), Wu Yanan, a philosophy lecturer at Nankai University in Tianjin, China, was taken by authorities under false pretenses and confined in a psychiatric institution for supporting anti-lockdown protestors. (more…)
Kershnar Cycle Reactivated (several updates)
Every few years, it seems, someone new will learn of the work of philosopher Stephen Kershnar (SUNY Fredonia), share their shock, amusement, or outrage about it on social media, and cause a brief spike in amazed, angry, or humorous commentary about it. Then people move on and tend to forget about it… until someone new learns of it and just has to share it. Call it..
A Tale of Two Resignations
Two philosophy professors recently announced their resignations from their respective universities. Both say that their administrations failed to adequately defend their freedoms and protect them from harassment and threats. But there are some differences between the stories that affect what might be learned from them. (more…)
The Syracuse Strategy
The Chancellor of Syracuse University, Kent Syverud, and David Van Slyke, Dean of the university’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, have issued a joint statement strongly defending the freedom of speech of Jenn Jackson, assistant professor of political science, after she faced calls for her dismissal because of remarks of hers on Twitter regarding t..
Legal Philosopher Successful in Defense Against Attack by Poland’s Ruling Party
Wojciech Sadurski, a legal scholar and philosopher of law with appointments at the University of Sydney and the University of Warsaw, has successfully withstood a defamation lawsuit by Poland’s ruling right-wing “Law and Justice” (PiS) party. (more…)
Speech, Harm, and Mill
I think the current debates about free speech are a good thing, because for far too long there has been much less debate about free speech than a free speech regime urges us to have about everything else. (more…)
A Resignation at Philosophical Studies and a Reply from the Editors (updated w/ comments from Cohen, Dembroff, Byrne)
Last week, Stewart Cohen, professor of philosophy at the University of Arizona, resigned as editor-in-chief from the prestigious academic philosophy journal, Philosophical Studies, a position he held for 25 years. (more…)
Quebec Government Deplatforms Daniel Weinstock (updated)
Daniel Weinstock, a philosopher on the Faculty of Law at McGill University and director of the McGill Institute for Health and Social Policy, was disinvited by the Quebec government from speaking at a meeting about reforming the mandatory ethics and religious culture course taught in the province’s schools. (more…)