Word: arguments
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...bases his argument about intellectual freedom on the assumption that the University can avoid moral dilemmas by ignoring them. In his second letter, he quietly admits that it cannot: "When [the University] makes it purchases, it normally chooses the company that can provide the goods and services it needs at the best available price. Granted, such purchases do contribute something to the supplier's profits. But...'" And Bok goes on to rationalize Harvard's failure to include value judgments in making its purchasing decision. But he has acknowledged the crucial point that the University does support the status quo with...
Once Bok has admitted that not to decide is to decide, his argument about intellectual freedom loses its basis: the University cannot avoid having an "official doctrine." The question then becomes whose doctrine it will be--the Harvard Corporation's or the community...
...second proposition is that decisions made on moral grounds will endanger the independence of the University. This argument, repeated in each of the letters, is a textbook example of circular reasoning. He writes in his first letter...
...last general argument is that moral decisions will cost money that could otherwise have been spent for academic purposes. But President Bok cannot honestly expect moral choices always to be completely painless. The health of this institution depends on much more than its liquidity. Bok rhetorically asks at the conclusion of his last letter "whether much will truly be lost by the reluctance of academic institutions to exert collective pressure." He, of course, does not believe the price of some amorality would be too high. After all, Harvard only contributes a small amount to the profits of these corporations...
Theoretically, Horner's argument makes sense: Radcliffe, unlike coeducational or single sex colleges, provides women with both a Harvard education and the added plus of the watchful and concerned eyes of the Board of Trustees--as well as their money. But as Charles William Eliot, president of Harvard from 1869 to 1909, said in his inaugural address, "Practical, not theoretical considerations determine the policy of the University." James B. Conant '14, president of Harvard from 1933 to 1953, reaffirmed that stance in 1952 when he said, "Harvard is not coeducational in theory, only in practice...