Speak Freely Book Cover

Speak Freely

Why Universities Must Defend Free Speech

An urgent defense of the university's mission as a place of free inquiry and open debate, exploring why the protection of controversial speech is essential to the pursuit of truth.

Reviews

"Involve[s] readers in the pleasures of confronting a difficult problem, treating the dangerous views of determined adversaries with an open mind and proceeding with greater confidence as a result."

The Wall Street Journal

"Speak Freely supplies clarity and good sense to a subject that has been receiving a lot more heat than light. . . . Mr. Whittington adds a timely plea to every American, inside and outside of the academy, to give more attention and support to the foundational principles of teaching and research."

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"Keith E. Whittington has written the best of the recent books on free speech and higher education."

Law and Liberty
Advance Praise

"An astute, crucial reminder that free speech and a diversity of perspectives are necessary prerequisites for a vibrant intellectual life. Whittington’s persuasive case for both comes at a critical time for all members of the university community, as well as our larger society. Speak Freely is essential reading for everyone who is concerned about higher education and intellectual freedom."

Nadine Strossen, former president of the American Civil Liberties Union

"If John Stuart Mill were around today, this is the book he might write about the free speech crisis on college campuses. Keith Whittington drills deep beneath the law and the excesses of political correctness to explain why universities’ foremost mission is to make and spread knowledge, even at the cost of discomfort, offense, or pain. At a time when many universities have lost their way, Speak Freely exemplifies the clarity, civility, and compassion that they—and we—so badly need."

Jonathan Rauch, author of Kindly Inquisitors: The New Attacks on Free Thought