The Academic Vocation: How activist professors corrupt the university—and the polity
City Journal | Tim Shampling (pseudonym)
Writing under a pseudonym, a professor warns peers against the corruption of putting activism above truth. “The problem arises when, in an academic role, a non-truth-oriented motivation transforms into a non-truth-oriented intention—that is, when the desire to make the world better stops propelling one through the tedium, the isolation, the despair that comes with scholarly work, and instead turns into a desire to say what will advance the cause rather than what one knows to be true.” Put simply, “One cannot be simultaneously an activist and a professor.”
“Corruption occurs when non-truth-based motivations no longer sustain one’s interest in a subject but rather dictate conclusions about that subject. Alas, such slippage is too common given eternal human frailty, and the difficulty has only been deepened by contemporary conditions.”
