January 2010
Debates about academic freedom have become
increasingly fierce and frequent. Legislative efforts to regulate American
professors proliferate across the nation.Although most American scholars desire
to protect academic freedom, they have only a vague and uncertain apprehension
of its basic principles and structure.This book offers a concise explanation of
the history and meaning of American academic freedom, and it attempts to
intervene in contemporary debates by clarifying the fundamental functions and
purposes of academic freedom in America.
Matthew W. Finkin and Robert C. Post trace how the
American conception of academic freedom was first systematically articulated in
1915 by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and how this
conception was in subsequent years elaborated and applied by Committee A of the
AAUP. The authors discuss the four primary dimensions of academic
freedom—research and publication, teaching, intramural speech, and extramural
speech. They carefully distinguish academic freedom from the kind of individual
free speech right that is created by the First Amendment. The authors strongly
argue that academic freedom protects the capacity of faculty to pursue the
scholar’s profession according to the standards of that profession.
Matthew W. Finkin is Albert J. Harno and Edward W. Cleary Chair in Law, The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Law. He lives in Champaign. Robert C. Post is David Boies Professor of Law, Yale Law School. He lives in New Haven, CT.
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