El derecho a la libertad de cátedra en la declaración de la American Association of University Professors de 1915

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze the concept, traits and limits of the "academic freedom" notion, as it is formulated in the American Association of University Professors' (AAUP) 1915 Declaration. The significance of this definition lies in the vast influence it has had not only in the American doctrine, but also in the shaping of academic freedom in contemporary debate (20th and 21st centuries). The paper critically analyzes the thesis proposed by the authors of the 1915 Declaration, according to which academic freedom can only be appropriately protected in "public" universities, that is to say, those supported by the State, since they would be free and (apparently) not bonded to a previous declaration of principles. The conclusion proposed is that this conception of academic freedom is heir of just one specific methodological idea of university, being, therefore, problematic to pose it as a general canon.