罗素案件与美国公立院校学术自由的危机与困境

The Case of Bertrand Russell and the Crisis of Academic Freedom in the Public Universities of America

1940年初,纽约市立学院决定聘请著名哲学家罗素来校任教,教授数学和逻辑哲学。但罗素却因宗教和性道德方面的学说而遭到纽约市大批宗教界、政界和普通民众的抵制。反对者以纳税者的身份要求纽约高等教育董事会解除对罗素的聘用,最终纽约法院判决高等教育董事会对罗素的聘用违法,制造了轰动一时的"罗素案件"。以杜威为首的一批知识界人士积极以学术自由的名义为罗素辩护。整个事件集中体现了在"纳税者逻辑"和美国公立高等院校学术自由所面临的激烈冲突。

City College of New York decided to appoint Bertrand Russell to teach Mathematics and Philosophy of Logic in 1940. But the appointment was opposed by the religious and political personages as well as ordinary people in New York due to Russell＇ s theory on religion and sexual morality. The opponents required the New York City Board of Higher Education to dismiss the appointment in the name of taxpayers. The verdict of Supreme Court of New York was that the appointment of Russell by New York City Board of Higher Education was illegal. John Dewey and other intellectuals defended Russell in the name of academic freedom. The whole incident revealed the conflict between the logic of Taxpayers and academic freedom of the public universities and colleges in America.