Noncoercive Threats to Academic, Political, and Economic Freedom

It is easy to suppose that losses of freedom occur because of interference in the life of the loser. Akeel Bilgrami and Jonathan Cole have recognized that there are many more subtle (and perhaps equally dangerous) ways in which a person’s freedom can be diminished. In a lucid introduction, they survey the problems. What then follows is a compendium of varied perspectives on diverse examples from many domains of human life, given by a stellar cast of writers from different fields. In an age when political life is often dominated by glib rhetoric about freedom, these discussions are urgently needed. This volume is a treasure-chest of illuminating surprises. – Philip Kitcher, John Dewey Professor of Philosophy, Emeritus, Columbia University

Akeel Bilgrami is Sidney Morgenbesser Professor of Philosophy and a faculty member of the Committee on Global Thought at Columbia University.

Jonathan R. Cole is John Mitchell Mason Professor of the University at Columbia University, where he was provost and dean of faculties from 1989 to 2003.

Bilgrami and Cole are the editors of Who’s Afraid of Academic Freedom? (Columbia, 2015).