学术争鸣还是取向歧视？牛津大学学生签名驱除法学教授

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近日，英国牛津大学学生发起一场公开签名运动，要求校方驱除牛津大学荣休法学教授John Finnis博士，指控其所发表的学术论述涉嫌歧视弱势群体，特别是同性双性变性群体，引发高度关注。Finnis教授在牛津大学讲授法律与政治理论研究生课程，400余名学生签名要求校方终止其教学。

这一签名运动显示，在西方国家，同性双性变性群体的维权运动，已经从政治、立法和司法层面，进一步扩展到学术层面。取向自由与学术争鸣及言论自由的冲突，看起来在所难免。而牛津大学能否给其教职员工提供一个不受政治因素干扰的自由学术环境，也让人拭目以待。

牛津大学，图片来自网络

John Finnis教授1940年出生于澳大利亚，1965年在牛津大学获得哲学博士学位，自1967年起在牛津大学任教，2010年荣休，著作等身。他目前是美国圣母大学Biolchini Family Professor of Law。在2011年，Finnis教授曾发表一篇文章，称同性行为不仅是：

“

never a valid, humanly acceptable choice and form of life，

”

而且是 ：

“

destructive of human character and relationships，treats human sexual capacities in a way which is deeply hostile to the self-understanding of those members who are willing to commit themselves to real marriage.

”

当然，这只是Finnis教授言论的冰山一角。在1994年发表的题为“Law, Morality and Sexual Orientation” 的文章中，他还对其他性行为做出抨击。

在接受牛津学生记者采访时，Finnis教授捍卫了自己的言论：

“

I stand by all these writings…The 1994 essay promotes a classical and strictly philosophical moral critique of all non-marital sex acts and has been republished many times, most recently by Oxford University Press in the third volume of my Collected Essays.

”

签名运动则要求校方解除Finnis的教学职责，称大学是教育场所，而不是宣扬歧视与仇恨的地方：

“

university is a place to focus on education, not to be forced to campaign against or to be taught by professors who have promoted hatred towards students that they teach.

”

签名运动还要求校方澄清其对发表歧视言论教授的官方立场：

“

to clarify its official position on professors who have expressed discriminatory views and behaved in discriminatory ways, especially those who have shown obvious hatred and intolerance.

”

在不少人看来，学术争鸣还是歧视言论，是这场冲突的关键。但签名运动发起人，牛津大学学生Alex Benn则认为这与学术并无关系：

“

Campaigns like this one often receive simplistic responses calling for ‘tolerance’ or ‘academic freedom’. But law, employment and education already draw boundaries about what won’t be tolerated. The humanity of disadvantaged people, including LGBTQ+ people, isn’t a debate. 

”

一位牛津大学发言人则称校方鼓励兼容并包，既反对歧视，也保护学术自由：

“

Oxford University and the Faculty of Law promote an inclusive culture which respects the rights and dignity of all staff and students. We are clear we do not tolerate any form of harassment of individuals on any grounds, including sexual orientation. Equally, the University’s harassment policy also protects academic freedom of speech and is clear that vigorous academic debate does not amount to harassment when conducted respectfully and without violating the dignity of others.

”

您如何看待这一争论？不妨留言与大家分享。

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