Speak Freely : Why Universities Must Defend Free Speech - Keith E. Whittington

Speak Freely

Why Universities Must Defend Free Speech

By: Keith E. Whittington

Hardcover | 1 May 2018 | Edition Number 2

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Why free speech is the lifeblood of colleges and universities

Free speech is under attack at colleges and universities today, with critics on and off campus challenging the value of open inquiry and freewheeling intellectual debate. Too often speakers are shouted down, professors are threatened, and classes are disrupted. In Speak Freely, Keith Whittington argues that universities must protect and encourage free speech because vigorous free speech is the lifeblood of the university. Without free speech, a university cannot fulfill its most basic, fundamental, and essential purposes, including fostering freedom of thought, ideological diversity, and tolerance.


Examining such hot-button issues as trigger warnings, safe spaces, hate speech, disruptive protests, speaker disinvitations, the use of social media by faculty, and academic politics, Speak Freely describes the dangers of empowering campus censors to limit speech and enforce orthodoxy. It explains why free speech and civil discourse are at the heart of the university's mission of creating and nurturing an open and diverse community dedicated to learning. It shows why universities must make space for voices from both the left and right. And it points out how better understanding why the university lives or dies by free speech can help guide everyone--including students, faculty, administrators, and alumni--when faced with difficult challenges such as unpopular, hateful, or dangerous speech.


Timely and vitally important, Speak Freely demonstrates why universities can succeed only by fostering more free speech, more free thought--and a greater tolerance for both.

-- "Kirkus"
Industry Reviews
"Involve[s] readers in the pleasures of confronting a difficult problem, treating the dangerous views of determined adversaries with an open mind and proceeding with greater confidence as a result. This summer, Speak Freely will be distributed to every Princeton freshman for consideration and discussion. That's a start."---Jonathan Marks, Wall Street Journal
"Winner of the 2019 PROSE Award in Education (Practice and Theory), Association of American Publishers"
"[A] sophisticated and coolheaded defense of free speech."---Peter Berkowitz, Real Clear Politics
"This is an important and robust book." * Paradigm Explorer *
"A timely defense of intellectual debate and critical thinking. . . . In the current divisive political climate, Whittington shows why safeguarding the civil exchange of diverse ideas is an urgent need." * Kirkus *
"A fresh foray into the campus culture wars."---Robert Simpson, Times Literary Supplement
"[Keith Whittington's] book provides a cogent and compelling analysis of the 'troubling currents swirling through college campuses'. . . . Speak Freely supplies clarity and good sense to a subject that has been receiving a lot more heat than light. . . . Mr. Whittington adds a timely plea to every American, inside and outside of the academy, to give more attention and support to the foundational principles of teaching and research."---Glenn C. Altschuler, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Keith E. Whittington has written the best of the recent books on free speech and higher education."---James Stoner, Law and Liberty

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