ABSTRACT
The promotion and defense of academic freedom is a Sisyphean labor. New threats, internal and external to academia, regularly arise and need to be countered. One suggestion that has recently been raised is that academic freedom would be advanced if it were to be incorporated as one of the parameters of university rankings. In this chapter, I caution against such a proposal. I argue that, on conceptual as well as pragmatic grounds, the proposed means would defeat the desired end, since rankings are themselves a threat to academic freedom. Moreover, a viable alternative is available.
