ABSTRACT
This chapter explains why academic freedom is of great ethical, social and political importance, with repercussions that extend well beyond the walls of the academy. It argues that academic freedom is, in fact, fundamental to democratic freedoms within a polity. However, it is also precisely because academic freedom is so politically important and consequential that it is under threat in our times, and the chapter also explores these threats. The freedoms that it promises present a real, present and pressing danger to existing political and economic privilege, quite simply because the full exercise of academic freedom always offers the possibility of change in the material conditions of life. This is most obvious in the domain of the sciences, which concern themselves directly with the material world. But it also applies to other academic disciplines, such as philosophy, the social sciences, history, arts and humanities. There, the exercise of full academic freedom enables the citizen to understand the world more clearly and, in judging that, also to become sceptical about the operations of justice. These disciplines equip us to understand if our regular judgments in all aspects of daily personal, social and political life are based on sound principles. In all fields, the proper exercise of academic freedom threatens existing social relations with change – and it thus poses a potential danger to the standing of those who currently enjoy a privileged status, be that in social or in economic terms.
