Academic Freedom and Sex

Academic Freedom and Sex

I apologize for discussing such a sordid subject. I don’t mean the subject of sex; I mean the threats to academic freedom this subject invites—from the right and the left. Nominally, we are all in favor of academic freedom, but that tolerance is apt to waver when sex is the topic. Let’s consider a hypothetical case. A professor finds himself interested in the relationship between sexual fantasy and creativity: he wonders whether there might be a correlation, even a causal connection. Sexual fantasy can be creative and this might be connected to non-sexual creativity—might it be the origin of creativity in humans? He needs data. He convenes a seminar in which the participants keep a diary of their sexual fantasies to be rated for creativity; then he tries to correlate this with other measures of creativity, say poetic inventiveness. It doesn’t matter for our purposes whether this is a wacky idea; suppose it isn’t—suppose it has some truth to it. Accordingly, members of the seminar, male and female, present their sexual fantasies for group discussion and evaluation. This is all voluntary; everyone is over the age of twenty-one; nothing untoward happens. Data is gathered; the hypothesis is tested; it turns out there is a strong correlation. Do you think the university administration is going to be happy with all this? Do you think the local feminists, hot for cases of “sexual harassment” etc., will raise no objection? I doubt it. The press will be eager to cover it, questions will be asked, fingers will be pointed. The professor might find himself in a heap of trouble. But isn’t this a classic case of infringement of academic freedom? What if a participant complains to the chairman, upset that her fantasies have been deemed uncreative? She feels humiliated and put down. She doesn’t feel “safe”. What should we say about all this?

The point I want to make is that the seminar needs a special kind of protection, because it is a special kind of proceeding. It is an academic proceeding. It requires a specific kind of mind-set, which we might describe as disinterested, detached, scientific, objective, unemotional, impersonal, pure, intellectual. This mind-set views sex and sexual fantasy as a natural fact like any other natural fact. It seeks to understand that fact–its structure, its causes and effects. It is the opposite of the pornographic mind-set. It may be a mind-set quite alien to the majority of people—those who are not academics. These people may therefore not understand it, suspect it, seek to curtail it. Thus, it needs to be protected—because it can easily come under threat. The atmosphere in a room like my hypothetical seminar room is unusual; it tends to be dry, analytical, humorless, serious. If you read a transcript of it, you might come away wondering what the hell these people were up to, the professor in particular. It would read a lot like literary porn, especially when taken out of context. The words alone might condemn it in your eyes. But you would be wrong: it is an academic exercise, a scientific inquiry. It needs special protection because it is easily misunderstood, unfamiliar to many people. It isn’t barroom chatter, or therapy speak, or outrageous speech for its own sake. It is a unique kind of discourse, calling for a distinctive type of mental attitude. It isn’t for everyone. The context and purpose make all the difference in the world. It can’t be judged by snippets of dialogue, words employed, acts described. Academic freedom is the freedom to engage in this kind of mind-set with other consenting adults.[1]

[1] I have some personal experience of the phenomenon described here, having written Mindfucking (2008), a book on disgust (The Meaning of Disgust, 2011), a treatise on the hand (Prehension, 2017) in which sex is briefly mentioned, and a pair of novels with sex scenes in them (not easy to write). It’s amazing the reaction such works can evoke. And let’s not forget famous novels by James Joyce, D.H. Lawrence, and Vladimir Nabokov (not to mention Sigmund Freud, Bertrand Russell, Masters and Johnson, et al).