Akademie, politika a akademie jako politika: Ke kritice „rozšířeného“ pojetí akademické svobody [Academia, Politics, and Academia as Politics: A Critique of the “Extended” Concept of Academic Freedom]
There has been a significant growth of interest in the topic of academic freedom in recent years, predominantly with regard to the emergence of several new and unprecedented phenomena within the academic environment that allegedly threaten or directly undermine academic freedom both on the individua...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | ces |
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University of West Bohemia, Pilsen
2020-12-01
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| Series: | Acta Fakulty filozofické Západočeské univerzity v Plzni |
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| Online Access: | http://actaff.zcu.cz/export/sites/ffacta/files/archiv/2020/Acta-FF-c-2/2-Acta-2020-2-Benda.pdf |
| _version_ | 1818655847086030848 |
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| author | Libor Benda |
| author_facet | Libor Benda |
| author_sort | Libor Benda |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | There has been a significant growth of interest in the topic of academic freedom in recent years, predominantly with regard to the emergence of several new and unprecedented phenomena within the academic environment that allegedly threaten or directly undermine academic freedom both on the individual and institutional levels. One of the responses to these observations is the attempt to redefine academic freedom in political terms, since the traditional concept of academic freedom, grounded in the purely epistemological notions of rationality, objectivity, and truth, is becoming regarded as incapable of facing the challenges and overcoming the obstacles encountered by academia in the present circumstances. It has been argued that instead of being limited only to epistemic responsibilities of academics, academic freedom should be “extended” to include the political responsibility of academics as well and should therefore provide the academics first and foremost with an appropriate set of political rights to fulfil their political role. This paper critically examines both the theoretical background behind this political shift in thinking about academic freedom as well as its prospective consequences for the academic profession and academia as a whole. While there are sound theoretical reasons that favour the “extended” version against the traditional concept of academic freedom, I argue that the associated political extension of academic responsibilities blurs the line between academic and political affairs and puts academia in danger of becoming an openly political – rather than authentically academic – institution. The paper is concluded by a tentative suggestion of an alternative account of academic freedom: one that takes seriously the theoretical weaknesses of the traditional version but maintains at the same time a clear and sharp distinction between academic and political matters. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T03:16:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1d09e83fbfc049b49972440901479e31 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2336-6346 |
| language | ces |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T03:16:11Z |
| publishDate | 2020-12-01 |
| publisher | University of West Bohemia, Pilsen |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Acta Fakulty filozofické Západočeské univerzity v Plzni |
| spelling | doaj.art-1d09e83fbfc049b49972440901479e312022-12-21T22:05:39ZcesUniversity of West Bohemia, PilsenActa Fakulty filozofické Západočeské univerzity v Plzni2336-63462020-12-01122194310.24132/actaff.2020.12.2.2Akademie, politika a akademie jako politika: Ke kritice „rozšířeného“ pojetí akademické svobody [Academia, Politics, and Academia as Politics: A Critique of the “Extended” Concept of Academic Freedom]Libor Benda0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5626-3297University of West BohemiaThere has been a significant growth of interest in the topic of academic freedom in recent years, predominantly with regard to the emergence of several new and unprecedented phenomena within the academic environment that allegedly threaten or directly undermine academic freedom both on the individual and institutional levels. One of the responses to these observations is the attempt to redefine academic freedom in political terms, since the traditional concept of academic freedom, grounded in the purely epistemological notions of rationality, objectivity, and truth, is becoming regarded as incapable of facing the challenges and overcoming the obstacles encountered by academia in the present circumstances. It has been argued that instead of being limited only to epistemic responsibilities of academics, academic freedom should be “extended” to include the political responsibility of academics as well and should therefore provide the academics first and foremost with an appropriate set of political rights to fulfil their political role. This paper critically examines both the theoretical background behind this political shift in thinking about academic freedom as well as its prospective consequences for the academic profession and academia as a whole. While there are sound theoretical reasons that favour the “extended” version against the traditional concept of academic freedom, I argue that the associated political extension of academic responsibilities blurs the line between academic and political affairs and puts academia in danger of becoming an openly political – rather than authentically academic – institution. The paper is concluded by a tentative suggestion of an alternative account of academic freedom: one that takes seriously the theoretical weaknesses of the traditional version but maintains at the same time a clear and sharp distinction between academic and political matters.http://actaff.zcu.cz/export/sites/ffacta/files/archiv/2020/Acta-FF-c-2/2-Acta-2020-2-Benda.pdfacademiaacademic freedomacademic professionacademic responsibilitypolitics |
| spellingShingle | Libor Benda Akademie, politika a akademie jako politika: Ke kritice „rozšířeného“ pojetí akademické svobody [Academia, Politics, and Academia as Politics: A Critique of the “Extended” Concept of Academic Freedom] Acta Fakulty filozofické Západočeské univerzity v Plzni academia academic freedom academic profession academic responsibility politics |
| title | Akademie, politika a akademie jako politika: Ke kritice „rozšířeného“ pojetí akademické svobody [Academia, Politics, and Academia as Politics: A Critique of the “Extended” Concept of Academic Freedom] |
| title_full | Akademie, politika a akademie jako politika: Ke kritice „rozšířeného“ pojetí akademické svobody [Academia, Politics, and Academia as Politics: A Critique of the “Extended” Concept of Academic Freedom] |
| title_fullStr | Akademie, politika a akademie jako politika: Ke kritice „rozšířeného“ pojetí akademické svobody [Academia, Politics, and Academia as Politics: A Critique of the “Extended” Concept of Academic Freedom] |
| title_full_unstemmed | Akademie, politika a akademie jako politika: Ke kritice „rozšířeného“ pojetí akademické svobody [Academia, Politics, and Academia as Politics: A Critique of the “Extended” Concept of Academic Freedom] |
| title_short | Akademie, politika a akademie jako politika: Ke kritice „rozšířeného“ pojetí akademické svobody [Academia, Politics, and Academia as Politics: A Critique of the “Extended” Concept of Academic Freedom] |
| title_sort | akademie politika a akademie jako politika ke kritice rozsireneho pojeti akademicke svobody academia politics and academia as politics a critique of the extended concept of academic freedom |
| topic | academia academic freedom academic profession academic responsibility politics |
| url | http://actaff.zcu.cz/export/sites/ffacta/files/archiv/2020/Acta-FF-c-2/2-Acta-2020-2-Benda.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT liborbenda akademiepolitikaaakademiejakopolitikakekriticerozsirenehopojetiakademickesvobodyacademiapoliticsandacademiaaspoliticsacritiqueoftheextendedconceptofacademicfreedom |