Trigger Warnings Part 2

"I, as discussed in the previous essay on this subject, believe students have a right to know the contents of a class in advance and that I am, as a professor, bound by the requirements of civility and compassion. Professors should inform students about potentially upsetting material in their classes. That said, I have some concerns about the imposition of guidance upon faculty. I am especially concerned when the state imposes ideological mandates forbidding and requiring content; this goes far beyond any imposition of trigger warning requirements."

"One concern is that guidance might strike some as based on what was called "politically correct" ideology. Nowadays the right would call it "woke", although that terms seems to have no clear meaning to them beyond denoting what they dislike. While claims about the dominance of wokeness in academics are overblown, guides that appear based on ideology could be used to criticize the academy. That said, many states (such as my adopted state of Florida) mandate ideological content in GENED classes in state colleges."

"An obvious counter is to contend that such guides are not politically correct impositions and to see them as such would be overblown suspicion. Another obvious counter is that such guidance is ideologically neutral and merely aims at protecting students from trauma. Even if trigger warnings were imposed by a university, this is radically different from imposed or forbidden ideological content. A third counter is that the classroom is a suitable place for the imposition of ideology onto a captive audience; the fight in some states could be seen as being over who gets to impose their ideology."

"While this might seem nafve, I think that the classroom should not serve as a place of ideological indoctrination, even when the ideology is my own. As a philosopher, my objective is to teach students how to think and not to preach to them. That said, someone might say it is a contradiction to instill"

Students have a right to know what will be covered in class, and professors have duties of civility and compassion. Professors should warn students about potentially upsetting material. Concerns arise when guidance becomes an ideological mandate that forbids or requires specific content, especially when imposed by the state. Such mandates can be framed as “politically correct” or “woke,” even when claims of dominance are exaggerated. Counterarguments include viewing guidance as neutral trauma protection, distinguishing it from ideological content control, and arguing that universities can impose warnings. The view presented holds that classrooms should not be used for ideological indoctrination, even when the ideology aligns with the professor’s own beliefs, because teaching should focus on thinking rather than preaching.

Read at A Philosopher's Blog