Kerby Anderson

Professor Peter Boghossian is no longer a professor of philosophy at Portland State University. He is a liberal and is guilty of speaking out against the illiberal university. The more he did so, the more he faced retaliation and finally had to resign. You can read his full story here. Although he and I would probably disagree about many topics, I would have enjoyed engaging in the conversation with him in the classroom. Although I have spoken in several classrooms in various Oregon colleges, I never had the opportunity to interact with him. He has had guest lecturers who were global climate skeptics, Occupy Wall Street advocates, and Christian apologists. Sadly, you wonder if he is one of the last remaining liberals on campus. Remember that I make a distinction between liberals and the left. Liberals believe in an open and robust discussion. The left seeks to shut it down. After his resignation letter surfaced, I was encouraged to see an op-ed by Professor Jonathan Zimmerman. He was calling his fellow liberals to “stand up for this professor.” He made a contrast between all the harsh comments made about people trying to “restrict teaching about race in American classrooms” and the deafening silence from “the vast majority of left-wing commentators” about this liberal professor from Portland State University. What was also so interesting is the fact that Boghossian has been “deluged with requests to appear on conservative media” even though he is not a conservative. In fact, we would like to get him on my radio program. But Zimmerman then said it might be a long time before he is invited on “liberal media” such as Rachel Maddow or National Public Radio. All of this reminds me of what Dennis Prager said on my radio program. “You liberals think your enemies are conservatives. No, your enemy is the left.” I agree.