Camilla Turner at The Telegraph interviewed Dr Arif Ahmed, a philosophy lecturer who spearheaded a campaign at Cambridge University to amend a proposed free speech policy. The policy would have prioritised respect for different groups and opinions over a commitment to tolerance of free speech. Had the proposal passed unamended, it could have fostered division, […]
Free Speech In Cambridge Is Under Threat. We Must Defend It.
Cambridge student Sophie Watson at tcs makes an eloquent case against a policy that is presented as protecting free speech but actually undermines one of its central conditions: tolerance. Well-done to those defending freedom of speech and arguing that all students and staff must be allowed to make their own judgments: The policy’s vagueness makes […]
The Sound Of Silence
We are used to media stories of students calling for universities to act against many ‘isms’ and phobias, and often the line between their own thoughts and beliefs, and those of academic/activists is hard to discern. So it is especially heartening to see that so many Oxford students have spoken out against their institutions silence […]
The Psychology of Critical Race Theory
Psychologist Dr Carole Sherwood analyses Critical Race Theory—and finds it wanting: Critical Race Theory does not provide the best tools to tackle racism. Blaming others, rather than taking responsibility for your actions, leads to a culture of victimhood and division. Always trusting your feelings to tell you what is ‘true’ produces mental health problems. But, […]
Critical Race Theory: helpful or harmful?
“What really frightens and dismays us is not external events themselves but the way in which we think about them”. Epictetus Imagine, while out walking, you see a friend across the road. You wave but she doesn’t wave back. She passes by, ignoring you completely. What would go through your mind? “What have I done […]
Modern Day Witchfinders Won’t End Hate By Pulling Down Statues – They’ll Only Fuel It
It’s one thing to provide a reasoned case for removing the Rhodes statue at Oriel College, but the current demands are based on historical illiteracy and censoriousness, and can only fuel resentment argues Inaya Folarin at the Daily Mail: Those who now see our past as nothing but a tale of ignominy should recognise that […]
“Black Lives Matter: A Guide to Teaching Sixth Formers about Racism and Inequality”
The Free Speech Union has published a guide written and sent to them by a teacher. Teaching schoolchildren about these politically-charged issues in a balanced, fair-minded way is hard, not least because if you depart from the orthodoxies of the BLM movement you risk losing your job. To cite just one example, a headteacher at […]
John McWhorter on why academics fear for their freedom
A national reckoning on race, John McWorther writes, has brought to the fore a loose but committed assemblage of people given to the idea that social justice must be pursued via attempts to banish from the public sphere, as much as possible, all opinions that they interpret as insufficiently opposed to power differentials. This episode […]
The University of Edinburgh’s crusade against the Enlightenment
Edinburgh University takes yet another step to distance itself from its most important intellectual legacy – the Scottish Enlightenment – as it has decided to rename its David Hume Tower after some students claim that the 18th-century philosopher’s views on race cause them distress. There is little that is exceptional about Hume’s views on race. Like the […]
Kirsty Miller on her now cancelled resignation letter to the British Psychology Society
Psychologist Kirsty Miller found the organisation’s behaviour deeply concerning, and after deliberating for a substantial amount of time, decided to resign. She also wrote a letter explaining her decision to leave — feeling it may be useful for ‘the powers that be’ in the BPS to understand why a member of several decades felt she […]