Stanley Fish - Think Again - Allison Arieff - Opinion - TimesSelect - New York Times Blog

Stanley Fish - Think Again - Allison Arieff - Opinion - TimesSelect - New York Times Blog: "Announcing your political views at the outset as a way of alerting students to your possible bias makes sense only if it is the business of the class to approve some or other political view at the end of the day; and if you do announce your political views, even in the spirit of full disclosure, you will be sending the message that approving a political view is indeed the business of the class. If, on the other (and better) hand, you start right out subjecting the topic to an academic interrogation – inquiring into matters of structure, history, influence, etc. – the nakedly political questions will never emerge and there will be nothing to insulate the students from. The rule is (or should be) that with respect to academic disputes, the instructor, rather than taking pains to present both sides equally, should steer students in the direction of the side she considers right; but with respect to political disputes the instructor should bring opposing sides into the discussion only as objects of analysis and never as objects of choice. Being biased toward an academic position is a good thing. (It shows that you care.) Entering into a relationship of any affective kind with a political position is not. That has been my message from the beginning, and I declare it once again in the hope that you will"