ABSTRACT
Despite the rise of linguistic governance and the proliferation of paternalistic practices, the importance of the value of academic freedom for the conduct of higher education is rarely questioned explicitly. Even advocates of linguistic governance, safe spaces, the policing of microaggression and the imposition of trigger warnings tend to insist that their projects are not directed against the exercise of academic freedom or free speech. Though there are groups of critical legal theorists and advocates of therapeutic justice who openly display their visceral dislike of academic freedom, most supporters of the new paternalism claim to uphold this value.
