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In this lecture, Professor Anomaly discusses the dangers of intellectual conformity in American universities. He begins with an empirical overview of what political beliefs faculty in the USA, UK, and Canada. He then tries to explain why universities continue to move leftward, and how such a stark political imbalance jeopardizes scientific research and university teaching. He ends by describing what he calls "the central dogma" of the American academy, which is the implicit assumption that all disparities between groups originate from some form of unjust discrimination. This assumption is at the core of the social sciences, Anomaly claims, and it is motivated by progressive political ideology rather than scientific findings.
Jonathan Anomaly has taught at philosophy, politics, and economic (PPE) programs around the U.S., including the University of Pennsylvania, Duke University, UNC Chapel Hill, the University of Virginia, and the University of Arizona. He is co-author of Philosophy, Politics, and Economics(global.oup.com/ushe/product/p..., published by Oxford University Press in 2015, and author of Creating Future People: The Ethics of Genetic Enhancement (www.routledge.com/Creating-Fu..., published by Routledge in 2020. Anomaly earned a BA from UC Berkeley, an MA from Columbia University, and a PhD from Tulane University. Anomaly is a fellow of the Murphy Institute of Political Economy(murphy.tulane.edu/people/jonn...) at Tulane University, and received several teaching awards at Duke University, including the "Spirit of Inquiry" award from the Martin Center for Academic Renewal(www.jamesgmartin.center/news/.... You can access his academic work at Google Scholar (scholar.google.com/citations?...) or ORCID(orcid.org/0000-0001-5485-0121).
The Benson Center promotes study of the intellectual, artistic and political traditions that characterize Western civilization. Central to this mission is our commitment to fostering dialogue about fundamental values and controversial questions. The Center provides a forum for free inquiry and open debate, and it promotes academic freedom and intellectual diversity on campus in a time of increasing political polarization and homogeneity.
This is a re-recording of the original event that took place on April 11, 2022 www.colorado.edu/center/benso...
The Center supports research that explores the ideas emerging from historically Western traditions and traces their continued influence. It focuses particularly on their role in establishing the foundational ideals and institutions of the United States. The Center promotes balanced discourse that engages both liberal and conservative viewpoints, in order to maintain a wide range of political, economic and philosophical perspectives at CU Boulder.
The Center is committed to intellectual rigor and the highest academic standards. It seeks to provide a premier academic venue for the study of our nation's political and cultural traditions. Its focus on the values of political and economic freedom, moral and legal equality, and individual liberty offers students, scholars, and residents of Colorado the opportunity to study ideals that have shaped fundamental aspects of the American intellectual heritage.