Academic freedom, which allows members of institutions of higher learning to engage in intellectual pursuits without fear of censorship or retaliation, lies at the heart of the mission of the university. Recent years have seen growing concerns about threats to academic freedom, many brought about from the changing norms of, and demands on, the university. A number of new issues—including content warnings, safe spaces, social media controversies, microaggressions, and no platforming—have given rise to loud cries, in both scholarly and popular contexts, that academic freedom is under serious att ... More

Academic freedom, which allows members of institutions of higher learning to engage in intellectual pursuits without fear of censorship or retaliation, lies at the heart of the mission of the university. Recent years have seen growing concerns about threats to academic freedom, many brought about from the changing norms of, and demands on, the university. A number of new issues—including content warnings, safe spaces, social media controversies, microaggressions, and no platforming—have given rise to loud cries, in both scholarly and popular contexts, that academic freedom is under serious attack. Despite this, there is surprisingly little philosophical work on the topic of academic freedom, and even less that directly takes up some of these new challenges. The present volume fills both of these gaps in the current literature by bringing together leading philosophers from a wide range of areas of expertise to weigh in on both traditional and timely issues involving academic freedom. The volume includes an introduction and ten previously unpublished essays, divided into four main sections: The Rationale for Academic Freedom, on the fundamental values that undergird the case for academic freedom; The Parameters of Academic Freedom, on when and where academic freedom applies; Silencing and Beyond: Microaggressions, Content Warnings, and Political Correctness, on some of the new challenges to academic freedom grounded in sensitivity to the political and emotional needs of an increasingly diverse academy; and Protests, Civil Disobedience, and No Platforming, on conflicts between academic freedom and the enforcement of laws and regulations governing the functioning of the university.