Hello Philodemicians,
I'm going to chime in from my post as a crazy, old alumnus.
I have long felt that a debate about the important questions that are often crudely lumped into the vernacular shorthand term "political correctness" holds tremendous potential for the Philodemic. To use the term "political correctness" in the resolution, however, as many have proposed for years now, would condemn the debate to discursive navel-gazing. What is "political correctness," exactly? The derogatory use of the term "PC" is generally directed at leftists today, but can there not be "political correctness" of the right, as well? As such, if the debate centers on the nebulous phenomenon dubbed "political correctness," it will be an abject failure. If the debate concerns one of the many, weighty theoretical issues or current events that tends to be amalgamated into the term "PC" itself, then the likelihood of a spectacular and worthwhile debate is much greater.
If the Society wants to have a genuine debate about the theoretical commitments at stake in "political correctness," it should consider resolutions along the following lines:
Resolved: All speech deserves equal protection.
Resolved: Individual rights, not group rights, are the foundation of liberal democracy.
Resolved: Anti-discrimination laws should protect all individuals equally, regardless of their membership in a minority or majority.
Resolved: It is (not) justified that a crime be more harshly punished on account of the victim's identity.
Resolved: It is (not) justified that a crime be more harshly punished because it was motivated by identity-based hatred.
Resolved: It is more/less dangerous for the state to police conscience than to permit the expression of truly dangerous ideas.
Resolved: Liberal democracy cannot survive if it tolerates illiberal expression.
Resolved: Moral relativism is incompatible with liberal democracy.
Resolved: Moral relativism renders liberal democracy incapable of defending itself.
Resolved: Human actions, and not ideas, are the wellspring of danger in a liberal society.
Resolved: Ideology and action are inseparable.
Resolved: To think is to act.
Resolved: To speak is to act.
Resolved: I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
Resolved: Those who trade essential liberty for temporary security shall deserve neither and lose both.
Alternatively, there are some potentially hard-hitting debates on recent events relevant to the theoretical questions outlined above:
Resolved: Acquit Geert Wilders.
Resolved: The firing of NPR’s Juan Williams was justified. (As Nick formulated quite nicely).
Resolved: Until Molly Norris can live peacefully under her own name, America is neither safe nor free.
Resolved: President Obama was right to dismiss General McChrystal.
Resolved: Sometimes a rope is just a rope.
Well there you have my two cents (perhaps my dime) concerning debates that touch on the various questions and commitments at stake in the popular term "political correctness." You may take them or leave them, as I'm just a crazy, old alumnus now and have no direct say in what the Society debates.
Hoya Saxa,
DNP
--
Drew Nathaniel Peterson
A.M. Candidate, Class of 2012
Regional Studies- Russia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Harvard University
(c)
802-770-8286dnpe...@fas.harvard.edupeter...@state.govdn...@georgetown.edu