Dangerous Ideas, Dangerous Times: What, if any, are the Limits to Free Speech on Campuses?
Date: Wednesday, November 21
Time: 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Location: St. Catharines Public Library (54 Church Street) Mills Room
With the return of fascist movements across the world, many people are now asking: How tolerant should we be of intolerant ideas? On campuses, many students and professors support banning public speaking platforms for fascists, white nationalists, and the “alt-right.” This strategy of “no platforming” is also influencing debates about whose ideas should be taught and how. Some scholars see the popularity of philosophers like Nietzsche and Heidegger for emerging fascist movements as threats to liberal democracy. And some liberal scholars, such as Steven Pinker, argue that curriculums should “no platform” Nietzsche. But would a liberal education that excludes illiberal ideas save liberalism by sacrificing everything that makes it worth saving? The controversy has intensified because the Ontario Premier, Doug Ford, has enacted legislation requiring colleges and universities to develop guarantees for free speech. For some advocates of queer, trans, and racialized people, free speech is being used as cover for hate speech, unsafe spaces, and violence on campuses and beyond.
Join us for a discussion of these issues.
Ronald Beiner (University of Toronto) recently published the book, Dangerous Minds: Nietzsche, Heidegger, and the Return of the Far Right.
Clifford Orwin (University of Toronto) has written editorials for The Globe and Mail in support of Doug Ford’s free speech policy.
Leah Bradshaw (Brock University) does research on tyranny, regularly teaches about dangerous ideas, and helped organize recent public events on The Rise of Trumpism.
Paul Christopher Gray (Brock University) will moderate the discussion.
This event is funded by a generous grant from the Council of Research in the Social Sciences.
