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From the article: "Of course we are always free to dispute each other; Wax’s colleagues could certainly have written essays or a collective essay debating her

From the article: "Of course we are always free to dispute each other; Wax’s colleagues could certainly have written essays or a collective essay debating her claims and pointing out flaws in her reasoning, but when is it morally and professionally appropriate to issue a collective public condemnation of a colleague? "I think such collective actions are only appropriate when colleagues have clearly and flagrantly violated their professional duties. I mean things like data fabrication or taking bribes to produce dishonest academic papers desired by a trade association." Well, that's just your opinion man. This is one of the key claims of this article, and it has no support. Why is a collective response inappropriate here? Why should those students and professors who disagree with Amy Wax not band together intellectually and through collective speech? Why is a collective response only appropriate when someone is clearly and vagrantly violating their professional duties? The author is making a very extreme assertion, but does it as an aside.

stinkytaco 9y ago
> Why is a collective response inappropriate here? I think that the default should be to allow a discourse that is wide ranging and open, and to only censure in cases that are truly extreme (such as incitement). Institutional censure carries with it a huge weight, and potentially the ability to silence opinions. Though I strongly disagree with this person, I must also try to imagine a situation where the roles are reversed, where I am in the minority and having my opinion censured. I believe that to live in a society that is truly free, it guarantees you will come into contact with opinions and beliefs that you find repugnant. It troubles me that the left has so aggressively mobilized against speech, not just disagreeing with it, but demanding that it be institutionally silenced. That said, this school (being a private institution) and these professors (being individuals entitled to their own opinions) are also within their rights. Free speech does not free you from criticism for your views.
AnimalMuppet 9y ago
Why is that an extreme assertion? Until maybe two years ago, it would have been considered extreme to call for a professor's head for anything short of real misconduct.

stinkytaco 9y ago

> Why is a collective response inappropriate here? I think that the default should be to allow a discourse that is wide ranging and open, and to only censure in cases that are truly extreme (such as incitement). Institutional censure carries with it a huge weight, and potentially the ability to silence opinions. Though I strongly disagree with this person, I must also try to imagine a situation where the roles are reversed, where I am in the minority and having my opinion censured. I believe that to live in a society that is truly free, it guarantees you will come into contact with opinions and beliefs that you find repugnant. It troubles me that the left has so aggressively mobilized against speech, not just disagreeing with it, but demanding that it be institutionally silenced. That said, this school (being a private institution) and these professors (being individuals entitled to their own opinions) are also within their rights. Free speech does not free you from criticism for your views.

AnimalMuppet 9y ago

Why is that an extreme assertion? Until maybe two years ago, it would have been considered extreme to call for a professor's head for anything short of real misconduct.