Self-Censorship in Public Discourse

A speech by Prof. Glenn Loury of Boston University

Glenn Loury, Professor of Economics at Boston University, spoke at the Monadnock Summer Lyceum some years ago. His subject was the impact of self-censorship on public discussion of important public issues. The subject is, yes, "political correctness," but this speech is not simply a recounting of horror stories. Prof. Loury makes several much more subtle and important arguments, and reaches some very disturbing conclusions.

• Ad hominem argument, which used to be considered out of bounds in rational argument, has become the norm.
• Some topics are so subject to minute inspection for political correctness, so taboo, that they cannot be discussed seriously in public.
• Some institutions we depend on as open forums for discussion, such as the universities, seem especially impaired.
• If you can't discuss it in public, you can't fix it.

In this speech, Prof. Loury is, if anything, too gentle. This topic deserves more heated argument.

(This transcription of the speech is reprinted with the kind permission of the speaker.  A longer version of this argument appears in Prof. Loury's book, One by One from the Inside Out.)

All contents copyright (C) 1995,1996, Richard Landau. All rights reserved.
Revised: January 21, 2005