tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321349.post9044712662231704307..comments2024-03-18T22:21:33.261-07:00Comments on The Debate Link: Trading a Vice for a Virtue: A ReconsiderationDavid Schraubhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04946653376744012423noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321349.post-25694724426067757622015-11-14T18:24:15.032-08:002015-11-14T18:24:15.032-08:00I don't think we disagree. Certainly, the &quo...I don't think we disagree. Certainly, the "dueling hypocrisy" element to be found in the Salaita case is strong (it is odd, though, how often hypocrisy is a double-edged sword: "Where was your concern about free speech when Salaita was unhired?" "Well where was <i>your</i> concern about safe spaces when he <i>was</i> hired?"). Likewise, I agree that the key question here is about where to draw the line (at points Serrano indicates that this is where free speech "ends", but I wouldn't say that. I think the <i>free speech</i> part has to be protected -- no official punishment, no physical or auditory blocking of the speaker -- but beyond that the criticism of the speaker and the assertion that their views are unworthy of consideration is simply counterspeech). The "draw the line" question goes to issues of epistemic curiosity that I think are better disaggregated from the "Free speech" question altogether, but Serrano is clearly right that nobody believes that there is <i>no</i> speech that is unworthy of being condemned in this way.David Schraubhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04946653376744012423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321349.post-87767746764878396812015-11-14T17:15:43.460-08:002015-11-14T17:15:43.460-08:00And then turning to the "free speech" cl...<br /><i>And then turning to the "free speech" claim, he asked the master where their free speech commitment was when Steven Salaita was denied his position at Illinois.</i><br /><br />I remember that post (and of course I can't find the link either) and I took it more as highlighting a double standard that seems to afflict a fair number of commentators, you distinctly not among them. Your take on Salaita isn't significantly different to my own.<br /><br />In any event, I can see where you're coming from, but at the same time I have to say that <a href="https://medium.com/@juliaserano/how-to-write-a-political-correctness-run-amok-article-9b828d443018" rel="nofollow">Julia Serano's argument</a> about the boundaries of acceptable opinion is very compelling. I think fighting to define the boundaries of acceptable discourse is way too important a political end of free speech (and, perhaps even more, academic freedom) that it, to my mind, enhances the legitimacy of what the student protesters at Yale are doing.Pillsyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01269452554612705292noreply@blogger.com