Intellectual relativism on behalf of cultural absolutism

That's funny, I thought liburols were the ones who believed in relativism.

UPDATE: I had intended to include this point, and forgot. Horowitz’s primary justification for academic freedom and his embrace of relativism, skepticism and subjectivism amounts to saying, if one rephrased the argument in more conversational terms: “Well, we can’t ever be absolutely certain of anything. No one can. Therefore, we have to let everyone say whatever they want. That’s the only way to be fair.”

In fact, that is the only ultimate meaning Horowitz’s position can have. There may be many good arguments and policy considerations supporting academic freedom; Horowitz’s approach is most definitely not one of them. (I’m omitting many subsidiary and more complex points here and in the post above. This was only intended as an introduction to these issues.)

The entire post is worth a read if you're interested in Horowitz's "Academic Bill of Rights" -- intellectual relativism that contradicts Horowitz's otherwise absolutist outlook.

Via Digby.