Academic Freedom essays

Academic Freedom essays James Madison once said, A people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power that knowledge gives. A popular government without the means of acquiring information is a prologue to a tragedy. It is because I agree with Madison that I stand in strong affirmation of the resolution, When in conflict, academic freedom in U.S. High Schools ought to be valued above community standards. To better clarify the round I offer the following definitions (definitions). The ultimate value that will be upheld in todays debate will be that of Knowledge, knowledge is generally defined as acquaintance with fact or truth. It is the state of knowing or understanding. I have one observation dealing with my value: my opponent my argue that knowledge is undesirable because the information we require my be untrue and leads us astray. You should note that this argument is illegitimate because it does not attack knowledge; it attacks false hood, which by definition cannot be knowledg e. My value will be supported through my Criterion of the Cost Benefit Analysis, where I will show you that the benefits we as a society would receive through academic freedom greatly outweigh the costs. Therefore the person that can show more benefits than cost through their value should win the round. I will now proceed to uphold my value through three main levels of analysis. The first level will consist of showing how community standards cannot be defined in a society such as ours. Second I will show how restricting academic freedom makes society more vulnerable to irrational prejudices. And finally the third level will express how the marketplace of ideas is necessary in Americas High Schools. My first level of analysis: Community Standards cannot be defined in a society such as ours. The first step in this level will be the realization that only personal standards exist. Supreme Court Justice Stewart once stat...