Article
Sep 30
Back

ACADEMIC FREEDOMS AND DIGNITY: THE CURIOUS CASE OF JOHN FINNIS’ PHOBISM

Jasminka Hasanbegović

10.5937/AnaliPFB1903009H
ABSTRACT /

This paper focuses – through the lens of the Finnis case – on the search for answers to the questions: Where do the boundaries of academic freedom and free speech lie? Did Finnis overstep them with his “extremely discriminatory views against many groups of disadvantaged people” presented in his papers between 1992 and 2011, as it is said in the Petition to stop John Finnis teaching at Oxford University because of his discrimination? Are Finnis’ views phobic? The main theses presented in the paper are: The boundaries of academic freedom and freedom of speech have not been overstepped, but these freedoms were abused. Some of these views, as abstractly expressed opinions, are phobic, but there is no tangible proof of any discriminatory behaviour by Finnis towards anybody.

DOWNLOAD COMPLETE ARTICLE /
Serbian (cyr)   Serbian (lat)  
REFERENCES /
  • Antonić, Slobodan. 2014. Seksualnost i moć: Sociologija gej pokreta. 2. izdanje. Beograd: Catena mundi.
  • Bamforth, Nicolas. 1997. Sexuality, Morals and Justice. London ‒ New York: Continuum.
  • Bardach, Eugene. 2000. A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis: The Eightfold Path to More Effective Problem Solving. New York: Chatham House Publishers ‒ Seven Bridges Press.
  • Damnjanović, Milan. 1976. Kantov odnos prema logici. 7–14. Logika: Priručnik za predavanja. Imanuel Kant, prir. Gotlob Benjamin Ješe, prev. Vlastimir Đaković. Beograd: Grafos.
  • Finnis, John. 1987. Legal Enforcement of Duties to Oneself: Kant v. Neo-Kantians. Columbia Law Review 87: 433–456.
  • Finnis, John. 1992. Deposition regarding the 1992 constitutional amendment in Colorado to restrict the state from protecting gay, lesbian and bisexual people from discrimination. https://www.theguardian.com/law/2017/feb/03/neil-gorsuch-mentor-john-finnis-compared-gay-sex-to-bestiality, last visited July 31, 2019.
  • Finnis, John. 1994a. Law, Morality, and ‘Sexual Orientation’. Notre Dame Law Review 69/5: 1049–1076.
  • Finnis, John. 1994b. Liberalism and Natural Law Theory. Mercer Law Review 45: 687–704.
  • Finnis, John. 1995. Law, Morality, and ‘Sexual Orientation’. Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy 9: 11–39.
  • Finnis, John. 1996. Is Natural Law Theory Compatible with Limited Government?. 1–26. Natural Law, Liberalism, and Morality, ed. Robert P. George. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Finnis, John. 1997a. Law, Morality and „Sexual Orientation“. 31–43. Same Sex: Debating the Ethics, Science, and Culture of Homosexuality, ed. John Corvino. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
  • Finnis, John. 1997b. The Good of Marriage and the Morality of Sexual Relations: Some Philosophical and Historical Observations. The American Journal of Jurisprudence 42: 97–134.
  • Finnis, John. 2008. Marriage: A Basic and Exigent Good. The Monist 91: 396–414.
  • Finnis, John. 2011a. Equality and Differences. 1–26. The H.L.A. Hart Memorial Lecture in the University of Oxford, June 2011, revised and annotated. Oxford Legal Studies Research Paper No. 72/2012. Notre Dame Law School Legal Studies Research Paper No. 12–82. http://ssrn.com/abstract=2180410, last visited July 31, 2019.
  • Finnis, John. 1/2011b. Equality and Differences. The American Journal of Jurisprudence 56: 17–44.
  • Finnis, John. 2011c. Human Rights and Common Good. Collected esseys, Vol. III. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Finnis, John. 2011d. Law, Morality, and ‘Sexual Orientation’. 334–352. Human Rights and Common Good. Collected esseys, Vol. III, John Finnis. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Finnis, John. 2011e. Sex and Marriage: Some Myths and Reasons. 353–388. Human Rights and Common Good. Collected esseys, Vol. III, John Finnis. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Finnis, John. 2011f. Marriage: A Basic and Exigent Good. 317–333. Human Rights and Common Good. Collected esseys, Vol. III, John Finnis. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Finnis, John. 2011g. Duties to Oneself in Kant. 47–71. Human Rights and Common Good. Collected esseys, Vol. III, John Finnis. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Finnis, John. 2011h. Limited Government. 83–105. Human Rights and Common Good. Collected esseys, Vol. III, John Finnis. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Hasanbegović, Jasminka. 2000. Topika i pravo: Značaj obnove misli o topici za određenje prirode i osobenosti pravnog rasuđivanja. Podgorica: CID.
  • Kant, Immanuel. 1800. Logik: Ein Handbuch zu Vorlesungen. Herausgegeben von Gottlob Benjamin Jäsche. Kö-nigsberg: Friedrich Nicilovius.
  • Kant, Imanuel. 1976. Logika: Priručnik za predavanja, prir. Gotlob Benjamin Ješe, prev. Vlastimir Đaković. Beograd: Grafos.
  • Lukić, Radomir D. 1975. Uvod u pravo. Beograd: Naučna knjiga.
  • Meier, Georg Friedrich. 1752. Auszug aus der Vernunftlehre. Halle: J.J. Gebauer.
  • Nussbaum, Martha C. 1994. Platonic Love and Colorado Law: The Relevance of Ancient Greek Norms to Modern Sexual Controversies. Virginia Law Review 80: 1515–1651.
  • Oxford University. 2013. Equality Policy. https://edu.admin.ox.ac.uk/equality-policy, last visited July 31, 2019.
  • Oxford University. 2017. Free from Harassment Policy. https://edu.admin.ox.ac.uk/university-policy-on-harassment#collapse1138051, last visited July 31, 2019.
  • Oxford University. 2018. Statutes and Regulations. https://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/statutes/353–051a.shtml, last visited July 31, 2019.
  • Petition. 2019. Remove John Finnis from Oxford; Clarify University Policy on Discriminatory Professors; Excerpts from John Finnis’ public statements and published work as examples of his discrimination. https://www.change.org/p/oxford-university-remove-john-finnis-from-oxford-clarify-university-policy-on-discriminatory-professors, last visited July 31, 2019.
  • Pringsheim, Fritz. 1921. Beryt und Bologna. Feszschrift für Otto Lenel. Leipzig: Verlag von Bernhard Tauchnitz.
  • Roberts, John Michael. 2000. Speakers’ Corner: The Conceptualisation and Regulation of a Public Sphere. Dissertation. University of Cardiff.
  • Smith, Sophie. 2019. Academic Freedom. https://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2019/january/academic-freedom, last visited July 31, 2019.
  • Vanderbeck, Robert M., Paul Johnson. 4/2011. ‘If a Charge was Brought Against a Saintly Religious Leader Whose Intention Was to Save Souls…’: An Analysis of UK Parliamentary Debates over Incitement to Hatred on the Grounds of Sexual Orientation. Parliamentary Affairs 64: 652–673.
  • Viehweg, Theodor. 1974. Topik und Jurisprudenz: Ein Beitrag zu rechtswissenschaftlichen Grundlagenforschung. 5. Aufl. München: Verlag C. H. Beck.
  • Vodinelić, Vladimir V. 1997. Takozvana zloupotreba prava. Beograd: Nomos.
  • Vodinelić, Vladimir V. 2014. Građansko pravo: Uvod u građansko pravo i Opšti deo građanskog prava. Beo-grad: Pravni fakultet Univerziteta Union – Službeni glasnik.
  • Zdravković, Miloš. 2008. Odnos prirodnog i pozitivnog prava u teoriji Džona Finisa. Magistarski rad. Beograd: Pravni fakultet Univerziteta u Beogradu.