Posted by Eugene Volokh:
Excommunicating Scientists:
[1]Kim Scarborough points to [2]this post from a newly minted
Political Science Ph.D. (the poster had just gotten the Ph.D. in the
mail the day before):
I don't think there is a tent big enough to hold me and one of the
chief architects of the present war in Iraq [Condoleezza Rice]. And
I have to wonder about our collective pretensions to positive
social science when someone can hold onto her political science
credentials while acting as one of the most persistent defenders of
that "weapons of mass destruction" trope.
So I've been thinking: shouldn't political science have its
equivalent to disbarment or excommunication? After all, if we want
the term "political scientist" to mean something, then a doctorate
shouldn't be a one-way ticket. When political scientists promulgate
ideas or institute policies that violate even the most generous
interpretations of our collective wisdom, they are not only
disregarding their own academic training, but devaluing the
intellectual authority and standards of our field. So shouldn't
there be some threshold -- it can be a generous one -- beyond which
one loses the right to practice political science?
Ah well. Any field that still claims Henry Kissinger as one of its
own can certainly survive Condoleeza Rice.
A few questions: (1) What exactly does it mean to "lose[] the right to
practice political science"? You lose the right to do the things that
political scientists do -- publish papers, teach classes, and so on?
You lose the right to cite as a credential (since, after all, the
whole point is so that you wouldn't be allowed to "hold onto [your]
political science credentials") the Ph.D. you hold, the jobs you've
had, and the field you're knowledgeable in?
(2) Say the political science profession indeed isn't a big enough
tent to hold both a newly minted Ph.D. and the incoming U.S. Secretary
of State (who also happens to be the former Provost at Stanford).
Which is more likely (not just today, given the current political
makeup of the academy, but in the future) -- that (A) junior Ph.D.s
will get to push out high government officials for "promulgat[ing]
ideas" that depart too far from "conventional wisdom," or (B) vice
versa? The poster is apparently "an expert on electronic democracy and
electronic government"; what does our knowledge about democracy and
government suggest as the answer to the previous question?
(3) I had thought that academics had a pretty standard response for
dealing with people who promulgate ideas that academics think are
unwise: It's called "criticism" via "persuasion." Why isn't that good
enough for the good Doctor?
Yes, I know that I'm probably taking the poster's arguments a bit too
literally here. My guess is that this is just hyperbole and
fulmination on her part. Presumably, the poster is just using
exaggerated language simply to suggest that lots of political
scientists should condemn Dr. Rice.
Still, isn't an exaggerated post that, on its face, runs against basic
principles of academic freedom -- I assume those principles are
similar in Canada, where the poster is from, as they are here -- and
that operates through hyperbole rather than reasoned substantive
argument, an inauspicious way to begin one's life as a Ph.D.? Let's
hope it's not characteristic of this person's future commentary.
Finally, what one says in moments of rhetorical excess might not fully
reflect what one thinks most of the time -- but then again it might.
[3]In Vino Veritas; perhaps In Hyperbole Veritas. And, as
[4]Scarborough writes about the poster,
She undoubtedly has a bright future ahead of her. Won't it be nice
when she's not just dreaming of banishing the powerful from her
exclusive club and actually grading papers and judging
dissertations of talented students whom she may not agree with? It
sure is encouraging that her gut instinct upon encountering
disagreeable opinions is banishment. Certainly the attitude I like
to see in higher ed, how about you?
References
1. http://www.unknown.nu/kim/journal/archives/2005_01.html#000297
2. http://alexandrasamuel.com/blog/index.php?p=11
3. http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/invinoveritas?view=uk
4. http://www.unknown.nu/kim/journal/archives/2005_01.html#000297
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