In considering any particular case from this point of view we must start from the realization that the public expression of different views is a service to the community .sx It is not a favour to be granted as a special privilege , but a feature of the political system which is essential to its successful working .sx It is the failure to realize this which is responsible for that most fallacious argument that the fact that universities are largely supported out of public funds puts them in a special position in this respect .sx It is presumably supposed that the Conservative or Socialist who pays the rates and taxes which partly support university teachers would feel some sort of grievance if the people whom he helped to support expressed publicly views with which he did not agree .sx The answer to such an argument is two-fold .sx Firstly , it might be pointed out that what his taxes go to support is the professional work of university teachers , not what they do in their spare time .sx And the second and more important point is that he must learn to get over the idea that anyone is in any way aggrieved or injured by the expression of views contrary to his own .sx We have got to learn to accept the implication of our democratic system that it is not an injury but a benefit to each of us to be criticised , and to hear opposing views expressed .sx University teachers , as a whole , have learnt to accept that principle in their own work , in spite of many momentary irritations in its actual application , and they are therefore in a particularly strong position to assert that exactly the same applies to political discussion .sx One may suspect that the fallacy rests partly on a false analogy with the executive Civil Service .sx There are very good reasons why the Civil Service should be debarred from public political controversy ; but the fact that they are supported out of public money is not one of these reasons .sx The real reason is that they have to be ready to work closely with governments of all political complexions , to carry out their orders and to give them advice , and this is impossible if they are actively associated with one set of political views .sx To return to our main argument , the same considerations would , of course , apply even more strongly to the argument that wealthy donors to university funds have some sort of right to control the political opinions of university teachers .sx I do not believe that we are ever likely to hear much of this here , though it appears to be familiar in the United States .sx But there is just a suspicion of it in the view , or rather the feeling , that university teachers have a special obligation to be discreet in their political utterances for fear of alienating possible support , public or private .sx I think that there is so much of truth in this that it would be a pity if a university , as an institution , became associated in the public mind with any one political party .sx But it is very easy to exaggerate the danger of this .sx It may be a good reason why the head of a university , who might naturally be regarded as speaking for the university , as a whole , should refrain from controversial political pronouncements , but I do not believe that , in fact , many people would regard individual members of the staff as committing the university as a whole .sx If they did the remedy is obvious .sx Suppose , for instance , some timid Conservatives were alarmed by the public activities of a member of the staff in the Labour interest .sx The remedy is , not to suppress these activities , but to encourage other members of the staff to be equally active on the Conservative side .sx It is probable that in the long run the university would gain more by being thought of as an institution which embraced all political opinions than as an institution which had no opinions at all .sx I would suggest that there might well be positive encouragement to university teachers to take a more active part in the political life of the country than they do .sx One modern university has already set a good example by giving leave of absence to one of its Professors in order that he might contest a seat at the last General Election .sx In this case the seat was contested unsuccessfully , and it is true that parliamentary work would probably not be compatible with the performance of the duties of a teaching post in most universities .sx On the other hand , it would be perfectly possible for university teachers to take an active part in municipal work , in the organization of local political parties , and in other similar activities , and it would be a very good thing if more of this were done .sx We ought , however , to be clear why this is desirable .sx It is desirable partly , no doubt , because it would be an interesting and educative experience for the university teachers themselves .sx But a much stronger reason is the desirability that people of as many different kinds of experience as possible should be able to contribute something to the counsels of the nation .sx It is only so that we can hope to correct the one-sidedness , which would inevitably arise in a political body which included representatives of only one class or profession .sx What we as university teachers must avoid is any tendency to suppose that we can come in as superior persons , who by virtue of their greater intelligence are in a position to put the rest of the world right .sx We may be of a higher general intelligence than the .sx average , though there is no experimental proof of this .sx But many other factors besides general intelligence have got to come in before anyone is entitled to speak with special authority on political , or any other , questions .sx Above all , we need knowledge of the subject about which we are talking .sx No one can claim special respect for his political views until he has given special attention to political questions .sx This point seems to me to make clear the futility of the suggestions which apparently were put forward at a recent meeting of the British Association , of a kind of Parliament of Scientists , which is to solve all social and political problems .sx These suggestions may have been misrepresented in the published reports , but at any rate , if and in so far as it was suggested that scientists , simply by virtue of their knowledge of their particular science , can speak with special authority on political questions , such a view can only be pronounced false and mischievous .sx It would doubtless be a good thing if more scientists were to enter politics .sx But if they were to do any good there they would have to set themselves to school again at political questions , just like anyone else .sx They might find that their scientific training helped them in some respects in this study .sx They might equally find that in other respects it hindered them and gave them a good deal to unlearn .sx But in neither case could it be taken as a substitute for the study itself .sx I might add that the same , of course , applies to the teachers of those subjects which , in modern universities , are grouped together in the Faculty of Arts ; but then , no one has ever suggested that a Committee of Arts Professors could save the nation .sx There is one more point that still remains to be dealt with .sx It has been argued that the only authority which has the right to restrain the university teacher from political activity is his own free choice .sx But it is legitimate to discuss , without any idea of dictation , what considerations , if any , might in exceptional circumstances , determine that choice in the direction of abstention .sx Of course , for most of us the question of taste , inclination or special ability will be the deciding factor .sx No one wishes to compel university teachers to take an active part in politics against their wish .sx But there still remains the question whether , even for those who have special interest in political questions , there may not be certain circumstances in which they might feel it wiser to refrain from taking an active part in public controversy .sx If the preceding argument is at all correct , it is clear that such circumstances will have to be very exceptional .sx The mere fact of being university teachers has no relevance here .sx But I suggest .sx that one might find such circumstances in the special position of certain subjects .sx For there is obviously a great difference between different university subjects in their relation to political questions .sx Some have no direct connection with political questions at all .sx A mathematician or a comparative philologist , for instance , would find it very hard to connect his views on his own subject in any way at all with his views on politics .sx And I think it is clear that in most university subjects the connection with politics is either non-existent or else so remote that it may be ignored for practical purposes .sx But there are one or two subjects which are not like that , and in which the study of the subject itself necessarily leads to the formation of opinions on certain questions which are , or might easily become , subjects of acute political controversy .sx The most obvious instance at the present time is Economics .sx But the list would include also certain branches of Philosophy and Psychology , such as Political Theory and Social Psychology ; possibly Constitutional Law ; perhaps even certain periods of History .sx The line obviously cannot be drawn precisely , and , true to our principles , we should have to leave it to each university teacher to draw for himself .sx But in drawing it he might well remember two points .sx One is that to enter into political controversy on the side of one party or the other undoubtedly makes it more difficult to approach the subjects of these controversies in the spirit of scientific detachment which is desirable in university work .sx That is unavoidable , and in most cases perhaps not undesirable .sx But when a particular teacher's own special study becomes the subject-matter of such controversies , there might well be a danger that his university work itself would suffer if he were too actively engaged in them .sx The other point is that his desire to contribute directly to the solution of political problems is met , as it is not in most subjects , by his own university work , and he may well feel that he may have a more direct effect on the formation of public opinion by his work on his own subject than by taking a direct part in political controversy .sx But it must be insisted once more that this is a problem which in the last resort each university teacher must solve for himself .sx There remains only one question for discussion , though it is a question to which some recent controversies have given a perhaps undue prominence .sx That is the question of the attitude of university teachers to the political activities of students .sx But it is not very difficult to apply the general principles already laid down to this point also .sx It is obviously desirable that students .sx at universities should be allowed to interest themselves in political problems .sx One might perhaps rather say that they should be actively encouraged to do so .sx In general , it is true that in the modern university , at any rate , the proportion of students who take such an interest is lamentably small , and university teachers might well use such influence as they possess to increase it .sx Any kind of attempt to suppress the free discussion of political questions by students must be regarded as definitely mischievous .sx If any section of the students themselves attempt such suppression university teachers should throw the whole weight of their authority against them .sx On the other hand , there is obviously a possibility that political interest among the students might be carried too far .sx Such a possibility is remote in England , though it seems to have been actually realized in some continental countries .sx It should , at any rate , be borne in mind .sx