Judith Butler, remarks at Brooklyn College

Whether you agree or disagree with her participation in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, you may wish to read the full text of Judith Butler’s address at Brooklyn College.  I wish to quote this on my philosophy syllabi, especially when I teach contentious social issues:

[Your being here] confirms your right to form and communicate an autonomous judgment, to demonstrate why you think something is true or not, and you should be free to do this without coercion and fear. These are your rights of free expression, but they are, perhaps even more importantly, your rights to education, which involves the freedom to hear, to read and to consider any number of viewpoints as part of an ongoing public deliberation on this issue. Your presence here, even your support for the event, does not assume agreement among us. There is no unanimity of opinion here; indeed, achieving unanimity is not the goal.