In a cramped gray conference room at the Auburn Hotel, professors Cornel West and Robert P. George sat down with The Plainsman and spoke of the nature of truth, freedom of speech and the growing movements of the alt-right before their scheduled discussion at Auburn University’s first Critical Conversations series that Friday afternoon.
In a statement released in March by West and George entitled “Truth Seeking, Democracy, and Freedom of Thought and Expression,” the two scholars encouraged open discussion between polarized groups in our country, beginning with the phrase, “The pursuit of knowledge and the maintenance of a free and democratic society require the cultivation and practice of the virtues of intellectual humility, openness of mind, and, above all, love of truth.”
When asked how modern society can better grasp what is true despite cynicism, apathy or an over-reliance on relativism, West said that, ultimately, one’s quest for truth is inescapable.
“You just have to be honest and candid about it and have the courage to acknowledge one’s own fallibility and limitations. So, in that way, the best response to cynicism is to be an example of a genuine quest for truth that has integrity,” West said.
George agreed with West and began to explain that there were some truths that society could not afford to disregard as relative or subjective.
“The truth or falsity of certain things is fundamentally important. Do all human beings have profound and inherent worth and dignity?” George said. “An awful lot depends on the truth of the matter when it comes to those questions, and we cannot be satisfied to take a relativistic or subjectivist or skeptical stance toward that.”
George went on to explain how values foundational to American democracy separated it from a humanity’s long history of establishing hierarchy’s of inequality that gave rise to things like slavery and discrimination.
“As Americans, to the extent that we are faithful, at least in thought, to our fundamental values, are believers in the opposite. We believe as the Declaration of Independence says, that all men are created equal,” George said. “We stake out that proposition as a truth: one that we are willing to sacrifice for, one that we have asked soldiers to die for.”
Auburn and many other college campuses have become the targets of rising alt-right and white nationalist groups and speakers. In the spring, white nationalist leader Richard Spencer, who claims to have coined the term "alt-right," delivered a racist and vitriolic speech on campus and was met with large protests by students.
At first, after receiving an assessment from Auburn police citing the threat of civil unrest and violence, the University decided to block his speech. A federal court later reversed the decision and ordered the University to allow him to speak, saying that there was no evidence of the immediate threat of violence.
West addressed the question of whether there was a line society should draw when confronted with unpopular opinions or even opinions that verge on violence, citing the legal issue of shouting “fire” in a theatre.
“That kind of speech would cause such injurious harm that there’s no possibility for dialogue, critical exchange, respect,” West said. “Every viewpoint always has ragged edges. ... I don’t think you can come up with a general theory or formula. I think you have to look at it case by case, but you have to exhaust all possibilities of respectful dialogue given deep disagreements.”
George explained the legal difference between our First Amendment’s freedom of speech and an incitement to violence and argued that we have both a legal and moral obligation as Americans to allow people to speak despite the fact that we may disagree with them.
“My general principle is this: we should be prepared to listen and engage anyone who is himself prepared to do business in the currency of intellectual discourse, and that currency consists of evidence, reasons, arguments,” George said. “This is the kind of speech through which everybody benefits, even when the view being advocated for turns out, in the end, to be incorrect.”
When asked what the greatest threat to American values of truth, democracy and freedom of thought and expression were today, George responded by referencing English philosopher John Stuart Mill’s idea of the “tyranny of public opinion.”
“My fundamental worry ... is with people capitulating to dominant, prevailing social orthodoxies,” George said. “I think the great threat to freedom of speech is an attitude that people adopt of dogmatism, of conformism, of groupthink.”
George said that he encourages his students at Princeton University to become their own best critics and to be able to question even their most deeply-held views when necessary.
West agreed with George and went on to praise the virtues of courage and magnanimity, or generosity and greatness of character, as necessary for an individual’s self-awareness and growth.
“If you live in a culture that puts smartness above courage, then it ends up being about money, manipulation, not about vulnerability and empathy,” West said. “If greatness if measured in terms of economic payoff rather than a moral and spiritual witness, then any conception of greatness collapses and it’s all just about financial calculation.”
West and George then spoke of the recent protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the polarized views Americans hold today represented there.
West, who protested the rally along with other members of the clergy, said the best and worst qualities of humanity were present at the protests.
“Neo-nazi brothers and sisters represent the worst with the choices they can make. They can change, they’re not locked in, but at the moment they’re tied to hatred and contempt,” West said. “Then you’ve got the best: those trying to live a life of integrity, honesty, decency, compassion, and generosity and we saw it in a very raw form in Charlottesville.”
West said that while this display of hatred wasn’t a turning point in American history or anything new, it was a dramatic and significant clash between the forces of hatred and love.
George said he looked on in horror, as other Americans and the whole world did, at the events in Charlottesville and worried about the future of the conservativism when faced with the growing alt-right.
“I think they have launched what is a struggle for the soul of the conservative movement in the United States,” George said. “An American patriot believes in the principles of the Declaration of Independence ... that’s the conservatism I represent, but if it gets high-jacked and replaced by a conservatism that says it’s about ethnic identity or being white then that kind of conservatism will become a very destructive force in the United States.”
George then addressed the question of appropriate response from public institutions of learning and their students when faced with disagreeable ideas and viewpoints, using Auburn University’s recent experiences with Spencer as an example, and encouraged students to read his and West’s statement.
“Even with someone as vile as Richard Spencer … he is not someone who should be prohibited from speaking on campus,” George said. “This does not mean that all speakers all equally worth listening to. I’m not going to cross the street to listen to Richard Spencer. He has nothing to say that I think I can learn anything from.”
Instead, George recommends that the University and its student groups think hard about choosing who to invite to speak on campus moving forward and choose those who have arguments to make with evidence and logic to back them up.
“Don’t bring in the provocateurs. That doesn’t benefit anybody, nobody learns anything from that,” George said. “Bring in the people who have something interesting to say who can make a compelling argument for the view that students want to hear have defended.”
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
