Department of Philosophy, Queen's University at Kingston, ON, Canada.
J Med Ethics. 2013 May;39(5):303-6. doi: 10.1136/medethics-2012-100801.
This article analyses, from a bioethics journal editor's perspective, the threats to academic freedom and freedom of expression that academic bioethicists and academic bioethics journals are subjected to by political activists applying pressure from outside of the academy. I defend bioethicists' academic freedom to reach and defend conclusions many find offensive and 'wrong'. However, I also support the view that academics arguing controversial matters such as, for instance, the moral legitimacy of infanticide should take clear responsibility for the views they defend and should not try to hide behind analytical philosophers' rationales such as wanting to test an argument for the sake of testing an argument. This article proposes that bioethics journals establish higher-quality requirements and more stringent mechanisms of peer review than usual for iconoclastic articles.
本文从生物伦理学期刊编辑的角度分析了学术生物伦理学家和学术生物伦理学期刊所面临的来自院外政治活动家的威胁，这些威胁涉及学术自由和言论自由。我捍卫生物伦理学家的学术自由，让他们能够得出并捍卫许多人认为具有冒犯性和“错误”的结论。然而，我也支持这样一种观点，即那些争论有争议问题的学者，例如，杀害婴儿的道德合法性，应该对他们所捍卫的观点承担明确的责任，而不应该试图躲在分析哲学家的理由背后，例如为了检验一个论点而想要检验一个论点。本文提议生物伦理学期刊为具有颠覆性的文章建立比通常更高质量的要求和更严格的同行评审机制。
