Ritið : tímarit Hugvísindastofnunar - 01.01.2011, Side 64

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JÓN TORFI JÓNASSON
Fyrirmynd sem felur í sér samræðu en ekki einræðu, menningu sem leggur
sig fram um að móta orðræðu sem einkennist af skýrri og skiljanlegri
hugsun og tekur mið af þeim sem rætt er við hverju sinni, hvort sem það er
sérhæft samfélag fræðimanna, upplýst fagfólk, fólk sem ekki þekkir vel til
máls eða börn sem eru á mótunarskeiði.
Háskólasamfélagið ætti að hugleiða að setja upp umræðuvettvang, t.d.
með því að nota vefinn og hugsanlega í samvinnu við Ríkisútvarpið, til þess
að rækja tjáningarskyldu sína og rækta þá umræðumenningu sem það telur
sér og samfélaginu samboðna og til þess að þjálfa ungt fólk til þátttöku í
þeirri menningu sem það telur til fyrirmyndar. Upplýst, öguð umræða um
fjölmörg mikilvæg mál sem kunna samt að standa utan daglegra viðfangs-
efna fjölmiðlafólks ætti að eiga sér stað í miklu meira mæli en nú er gert
ABSTRACT
Universities and Critical Social Discourse
The discussion centres on the role of academics in the social discourse outside the
arena of their institutions. First it is argued that universities carry social respon-
sibility, which requires that they participate in the development of their societies,
inter alia to engage in and even initiate various substantive debates. Thus the var-
ious specialists must engage themselves. Further it is explained that their specialist
standing within the university, characterised by their knowledge and independ-
ence, gives them a rather unique responsibility to take part, as many of their
specialised colleagues in the public or private spheres may not be given the
opportunity to express their views or concerns. But even though the scientific
discourse is assumed to be neutral and in some sense value free, this does not
apply to the individual academics, who are human beings characterised by ideals,
views, and a variety of short and long term interests. Some of these interests may
substantially influence their discourse, but this assertion does not imply any dis-
honesty or corruption. These interests may range from the love of their field,
through support for projects they have advised on, or that may strengthen their
field, to policies that may enhance their chances of obtaining research funds. Thus
the argument for the participation of academics in the public debate does not
presuppose their neutral stance. But their input should be very important and the
conclusion suggests that a move from the notion of freedom of expression of aca-
demics about their specialist field to an obligation to participate and even to be
critical might be considered. This might then be extended to the university as an
institution.
Keywords: Role of academics in social discourse, social responsibility, the university
as an institution, academic freedom, interests.