A Conservative Professor on How to Fix Campus Culture

"Robert P. George is not a passive observer of the proverbial culture wars; he's been a very active participant. As a Catholic legal scholar and philosopher at Princeton University, he was an influential opponent of Roe v. Wade and same-sex marriage, and received a Presidential medal from George W. Bush. George decries the "decadence" of secular culture, and, in 2016, he co-wrote an op-ed declaring Donald Trump "manifestly unfit" to serve as President."

"Although George disagrees with the Administration's tactics to change universities' policies by punishment, he agrees with its contention that campuses have become hotbeds of leftism that stifle debate. He regards this not as a particular evil of the left but as "human nature": "If conservatives had the kind of monopoly that liberals had," George tells David Remnick, "I suspect we'd have the same situation, but just in reverse.""

"His recent book, " Seeking Truth and Speaking Truth: Law and Morality in Our Cultural Moment," tries to chart a course back toward civil, functioning debate in a polarized society. "I encourage my students to take courses from people who disagree with me, like Cornel West and Peter Singer," the latter of whom is a controversial philosopher of ethics. "Cornel and I teach together for this same reason. Peter invites his students to take my courses. That's the way it should be.""

Robert P. George is a Catholic legal scholar and Princeton philosopher who opposed Roe v. Wade and same-sex marriage and received a Presidential medal from George W. Bush. He criticizes secular culture's "decadence" and in 2016 co-wrote an op-ed calling Donald Trump "manifestly unfit" for President. He objects to punitive Administration tactics toward universities but agrees campuses have become leftist environments that stifle debate, which he attributes to "human nature" and partisan monopolies. His recent book seeks to restore civil, functioning debate in a polarized society. He encourages students to study with intellectual opponents like Cornel West and Peter Singer and co-teaches with West.

Read at The New Yorker