Communities of Inquiry

Abstract

Before diving into Ricœur’s historical and conceptual experiences of free speech about Algeria, Nanterre and USA in Chaps. 4, 5 and 6, I provide in this chapter a clear working definition of ‘free speech’ as a negotiated process and explore how, by using the Communities of Inquiry approach, young people can learn the art of discussion as they progress through university. As an antidote to the chilling effects of the culture wars, this develops a politics of pedagogy that entails mutual recognition of each other’s arguments and helps us to share the risk with each other of causing offence. There are significant differences between this approach and the communicational ethics of Habermas. This chapter and Chaps. 4 and 6 end with sample Communities of Inquiry.