Professor of Philosophy Russell Marcus recently published an essay, "Free Speech and the Philosophy Classroom: The Wrong Question," on the APA blog. In the essay, he argues that free speech rights are inadequate to the task of improving conversations across disagreement in our classrooms and helping students to learn and grow.
“Instead, we must build trust among and with our students,” Marcus wrote. “Building trust, though, requires pedagogical subtlety because of a kind of paradox. We have to be honest and authentic with our students, but once we express our personal political views, we risk losing their confidence,” he said.
Posted June 10, 2025
