Fora de Sintonia: A Etica Academcia en um Ambiente Prepostero (2013)

Susan Haack, “Out of Step: Academic Ethics in a Preposterous Environment.” Abstract: Doing our work as professors responsibly and well requires good character; more specifically, it requires such virtues as industry, persistence, judgment, honesty, focus, a realistic sense of what is feasible, impartiality, independence, consideration, and courage—all of which are needed in teaching, in research, and in such other activities as editing, presenting papers, refereeing, participating in hiring decisions, etc. Sadly, recent changes in the academic environment—the growth of a new class of professional academic administrators, the ever-increasing insistence on publication for career advancement, growing emphasis on grants and research projects, and focus on “rankings”—are systematically eroding these key academic virtues.Key words: academic virtues, industry, persistence, judgment, honesty, focus, realism, impartiality, independence, consideration, courage, university administration, decline of academic culture.