I cannot imagine that it would violate the Constitution if a philosophy department
presented "ethics from a Christian (or Islamic or Jewish) point of view" any more than
it violates the Constitution to present a course in a department of religion on "the
belief structure of Islam." I assume the problem (if there is one) arises when the
instructor switches from third-person speech ("this is what Christians (Jews, Muslims,
etc.) believe about the creation of the world" to first-person ("and I believe this is
a true understanding of creation"). If we allow a secularist use the first-person,
then I don't understand why a sectarian could be denied the same freedom. This is a
wholly different question, incidentally, from whether a department is obligated to
present views that they believe are nonsense. Thus, I believe that a biology
department commits no wrong by failing to teach "creation science" (or whatever it's
called these days), just as a university is under no obligation to teach astrology.
sandy
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: Law & Religion issues for Law Academics <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 15:29:51 +0000
Subject: Re: Do philosophy departments violate the Constitution?
In Mark's hypo the philosophy departments, and the teachers who speak within it, are
state actors. The question, then, is not whether exclusion of a certain viewpoint
from "faculty speech" would violate the free speech clause (the clause that UVa was
held to have violated in Rosenberger); presumably it wouldn't, because the free speech
clause does not restrict the state itself from expressing any views it wishes. The
question, then, is whether the university would violate the *Establishment* Clause by
*permitting* a faculty member to teach "Ethics from a Christian/Roman Catholic Point
of View" -- and, for that matter, for permitting teachers more broadly to "present
their own views about what general approach to ethics," including "ultimate issues of
life," are "correct/most defensible."
> I'd like to suggest a slight variant on the issues opened up by the
> discussion of invited speakers. Consider the philosophy department in a
> public university. It offers a number of courses in ethics, in which
> teachers survey the field and -- importantly for the problem -- present
> their own views about what general approach to ethics (utilitarianism,
> Kantianism, and the like) is correct/most defensible. Many of these
> courses spend a substantial amount of time on "ultimate issues" of life
> (of a sort that addressed -- in a different way -- in theology
> departments in religiously affiliated universities). [I invite people
> to tinker with the set-up in ways that make the following question more
> pointed.] Under Rosenberger, is the department violating the
> Constitution if it rejects a course proposal by a fully qualified
> instructor (Ph. D. in philosophy, with a specialization in ethics, and
> an advanced theological degree relevant to the course proposal) to offer
> a course (on the same terms as the other ethics courses are offered --
> as an elective if they are, as a course that fulfills a departmental
> requirement if they do) in (not "on") Christian ethics, or Roman
> Catholic ethics, or "Ethics from a Christian/Roman Catholic Point of
> View," or ... -- when the rejection is on the ground that the
> perspective proposed is not within the department's definition of
> "philosophy"?
>
> _______________________________________________
> To post, send message to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see
> http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/religionlaw
_______________________________________________
To post, send message to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see
http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/religionlaw
_______________________________________________
To post, send message to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see
http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/religionlaw
