ACADEMIC FREEDOM

Abstract

Walter: Academic freedom is a snare and a delusion. It is evidence of the insolence and gall of some academics. Those who favor it set themselves up for a fall. Why is there only such a thing as “academic freedom,” and no “plumber’s freedom,” or “taxi-cab driver’s freedom,” etc. Are only university professors deserving of “freedom”? Surely not. Forgetting for the moment whether we should favor this concept or not, what, literally, does it mean? Well, if it means anything, and it is unclear as to whether it does or not, it would appear to imply that the academic can do in class exactly what he wishes to do; otherwise, he is hardly “free.”.