For the Common Good: Principles of American Academic Freedom
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Debates about academic freedom have become increasingly fierce and frequent. Legislative efforts to regulate American professors proliferate across the nation. Although most American scholars desire to protect academic freedom, they have only a vague and uncertain apprehension of its basic principles and structure. This book offers a concise explanation of the history and meaning of American academic freedom, and it attempts to intervene in contemporary debates by clarifying the fundamental functions and purposes of academic freedom in America. Matthew W. Finkin and Robert C. Post trace how the American conception of academic freedom was first systematically articulated in 1915 by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and how this conception was in subsequent years elaborated and applied by Committee A of the AAUP. The authors discuss the four primary dimensions of academic freedom—research and publication, teaching, intramural speech, and extramural speech. They carefully distinguish academic freedom from the kind of individual free speech right that is created by the First Amendment. The authors strongly argue that academic freedom protects the capacity of faculty to pursue the scholar’s profession according to the standards of that profession. New York Times "[This book] is right on target. And you just have to love a book . . . that declares that while faculty must ''respect students as persons,'' they are under no obligation to respect the ''ideas held by students.'' Way to go!"—Stanley Fish, New York Times— Stanley Fish
Contents Introduction: Why This Book?....................1CHAPTER 1: The Historical Origins of the Concept of Academic Freedom....................11CHAPTER 2: The 1915 Declaration and the American Concept of Academic Freedom....................29CHAPTER 3: Freedom of Research and Publication....................53CHAPTER 4: Freedom of Teaching....................79CHAPTER 5: Freedom of Intramural Expression....................113CHAPTER 6: Freedom of Extramural Expression....................127CHAPTER 7: Conclusion: On Professional Responsibility....................149APPENDIX 1: Excerpts from the 1915 Declaration of Principles on Academic Freedom and Academic Tenure....................157APPENDIX 2: Excerpts from the 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure with 1970 Interpretive Comments....................183Notes....................191Acknowledgments....................243Index....................245
