3 ms·

I've seen Horowitz on a news show and I couldn't forget how inflammatory he was and he didn't sound any different than any other right-wing pundit I've seen. W

by msie 18y ago

I've seen Horowitz on a news show and I couldn't forget how inflammatory he was and he didn't sound any different than any other right-wing pundit I've seen. What is the criteria for left-wing bias anyways? Any criticism of any right-wing person or policy? Not being "fair and balanced" on each issue when in fact one side IS right and the other side IS wrong? Not allowing the teaching of Intelligent Design in biology classes? Has anyone looked at "right-wing" bias in universities? Maybe the left isn't shouting as loudly as the right.

smanek 18y ago
I would contend that bias has to do more with interpretation of facts, than of facts themselves (although, obviously, you can create bias through selective presentation of facts as well). Basically, it reduces to which side of the is-ought dichotomy (Hume) a statement falls on. Anything on the 'is' side is fair game. Anything on the ought side is opinion (which is fine), but should not be enforced. An example of bias might be a professor positing (outside an econ class) that we should bail out the auto industry. That statement, while on its face reasonable, implicitly assumes a number of 'positive rights' that most conservatives don't grant. It further assumes that a bailout is the best way to guarantee those positive rights, which is outside the purview of anything but an economics class. Improper bias may be the teacher grading assignments disagreeing with his thesis (and its implicit liberal assumptions) more harshly than papers agreeing with his thesis. Obviously, this would be very hard to show - but if it is happening, it would be extremely bad. And honestly, you'd have to be a complete moron to think there is right wing bias in american universities. Liberal professors outnumber conservative professors at least 5 to 1 (far more in some departments/schools). As proof see http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8427-2005Mar28.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8427-2005Mar2... or http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/10/08/politics http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/10/08/politics. Or any other survey conducted on the topic.

by msie 18y ago

smanek 18y ago

I would contend that bias has to do more with interpretation of facts, than of facts themselves (although, obviously, you can create bias through selective presentation of facts as well). Basically, it reduces to which side of the is-ought dichotomy (Hume) a statement falls on. Anything on the 'is' side is fair game. Anything on the ought side is opinion (which is fine), but should not be enforced. An example of bias might be a professor positing (outside an econ class) that we should bail out the auto industry. That statement, while on its face reasonable, implicitly assumes a number of 'positive rights' that most conservatives don't grant. It further assumes that a bailout is the best way to guarantee those positive rights, which is outside the purview of anything but an economics class. Improper bias may be the teacher grading assignments disagreeing with his thesis (and its implicit liberal assumptions) more harshly than papers agreeing with his thesis. Obviously, this would be very hard to show - but if it is happening, it would be extremely bad. And honestly, you'd have to be a complete moron to think there is right wing bias in american universities. Liberal professors outnumber conservative professors at least 5 to 1 (far more in some departments/schools). As proof see http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8427-2005Mar28.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8427-2005Mar2... or http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/10/08/politics http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/10/08/politics. Or any other survey conducted on the topic.