Against the Politics of “Bullshit”: Academic Freedom, Free Speech, and Democracy

Contemporary attacks against academia make it necessary to define academic freedom. First, it is a protection against the powers that be, whether economic or political. Student demonstrations cannot threaten academic freedom, as they do not have the power to cut funding or dismiss professors. Second, the definition of academic freedom varies in different times and places, in particular concerning self-government and extra-mural speech. Third, academic freedom is not free speech. Both protect the right to say everything (within the limits of the law). But while free speech is a matter of opinion, academic freedom is a professional liberty, based on rejecting what philosopher Harry Frankfurt calls “bullshit”: a radical disregard for truth. Of course, disciplinary logics risk constraining heterodox work. But academic freedom is necessary to preserve the democratic value of truth against the neofascist politics of “bullshit” — which is precisely why it is under attack.