Huenemanniac

7 responses to “Academic freedom vs. intellectual responsibility”

1. 

   Mike

   2007.07.26

   you should post links to those stories if you have them.

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2. 

   Huenemann

   2007.07.26

   Done! You might have to register with the Washington Post to read them. But that’s a good thing to do anyway.

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3. 

   sohrab

   2007.10.12

   One could argue though that though responsible, Finkelstein’s scholarship–deliberately or not–serves the cause of extremist views on the Israel-Palestine question. Left anti-semetism is in many ways far more complex, nuanced, and sinister than its rightward counterpart.

   Finkelstein’s arguments dangerously plays into the hand of this particular brand of highly educated bigotry, which is usually scoffs when checked on its anti-semetism: “criticizing Israel is not anti-semetism! Yes there was a Shoah but why should its memory be used to oppress Palestinians?!” e.g. the circles that invoke international law and human rights to single out Israel as an oppressive, apartheid state, while the other murderous regimes in the neighborhood as well as so many others on the planet are never blamed.

   Since departing ways with DePaul he has been touring the world giving talks sponsored by such left groups, who often have very dubious agendas for the region. I support his denial of tenure, not to mention Churchill’s.

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4. 

   Huenemann

   2007.10.12

   I don’t know enough to either agree or disagree with you about “cloaked anti-semitism” you describe, but I’ll bet you’re right. Let’s suppose Finkelstein is a rabid anti-semite. Still: should university administrations deny tenure to scholars who hold reprehensible views? My own experience suggests that they’re not the ones to make the relevant moral distinctions!

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5. 

   sohrab

   2007.10.12

   Finkelstein posits a Jewish conspiracy composed of the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Congress, and the rest of “THE LOBBY” to make the claim that the memory of the Shoah is being used to advance the cause of a violent, imperialist state. His M.O. is attack scholarship. He spends most of his time accusing his opponents of plagiarism and falsification.

   However, I’ll admit that it’s hard to imagine Norman Finkelstein as an anti-semite. He often cites the fact that his own parents were Holocaust survivers. And in order to make the case that the “LOBBY” overstates the number of survivers, he makes the argument (in The Holocaust Industry and elsewhere) that the Nazis were only too efficient in their systematic destruction of Europe’s Jewish population.

   So clearly he is no Ahmadinejad. But this is precisely why he should be denied an academic position from which to broadcast his views! The new anti-semites can abuse his identity and family history: “Look! here’s a jew–a son of Shoah survivers–decrying Israel, as well as the ‘LOBBY’ and its cohorts in DC!”

   Now why should DePaul, whose mission is based on Vincentian values of goodwill and charity, promote this kind of scholarship?

   According to DePaul, Finkelstein was denied tenure based on departmental recommendations that strictly consider academic standards for tenure. He and his supporters imagine Dershowitz and the “LOBBY” making intimidating phone calls to Trustrees, but it’s easy to discern the far less cynical basis for the decision considering the core values of said private institution.

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6. 

   Huenemann

   2007.10.13

   But wait a minute — surely you don’t wish to maintain that anytime Professor X’s scholarship can be utilized by hate groups, Professor X should be denied tenure, do you?

   Since you brought up Ahmadinejad, let me admit I was initially outraged that Columbia invited him to speak. But now I’m not so sure. One effect of his speaking was that the sheer ridiculousness of his views was brought further into the light. Granted, he’s certainly no kind of scholar, but he is an important political figure right now, and surely universities ought to invite such figures to their campuses — but with appropriate venues for challenging the claims they make. And we can now say to Iranian universities: we invited your guy to speak, how about inviting one of ours? What if nations morally opposed to one another made it a practice of inviting one another over for the airing and critical discussion of views?

   (Or am I just being a pollyanna-ish idiot?)

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7. 

   sohrab

   2007.10.16

   Not in the least: I do agree with you that Columbia handled Ahmadinejad’s visit well, giving students and campus leadership sufficient opportunities to challenge his ridiculous views. Too bad he won’t reciprocate the gesture.

   (By the way: I hope I’m not sounding like some sort of “we-need-to-smoke-out-tenured-radicals” conservative.)

   I would certainly oppose denial of tenure for a scholar if the only argument for it was the fact that his/her scholarship has the potential to be abused. In Norm’s case, it’s the fact that he actively panders his work to and flirts with groups that target Israel unfairly and on irrational grounds.

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