Margaret Sommerville

[auvergne]

There was a post in the LAN recently about Margaret Sommerville, an ethicist who will be granted an honourary degree at Ryerson this week. Much noise from the left because she's against same-sex marriage

Comments

[pencilla]

Although I agree that the granting of honourary degrees should have nothing to do with the popularity of a person's opinion, I do believe that universities should keep in mind more than the simple search for truth. Because ultimately what occurs on campus will have large implications for the political landscape at large.

Veritas et Utilitas roughly translates to truth and service. Surprisingly, Harvard's motto (noting that they are private institution) is a simple Veritas! (with the exclamation mark - that's the best part).

[auvergne]

I like "Veritas!"

I think the idea is that truth will ultimately serve the public. What is important, however, is that this pursuit of "truth" is not swayed by popular opinion.

[anonymous]

I am not sure it is entirely accurate to say that Sommerville is opposed to gay marriage (in the "traditional" sense, in any case). Her views on gay marriage are tied to her views on reproductive technology. Here is a quote from the Globe and Mail last week (and these are Sommerville's words): "If you put your adult spotlight on this, and only adults were involved, then of course same-sex marriage is fine," she explains. "But kids need and want a mom and dad, and they want their own biological parents." In this light, it is hard(er) to really say that she is opposed to gay marriage, though it is still clear how her position is problematic.

:)

[auvergne]

She is opposed to gay marriage--there's no way around that. I do appreciate that she doesn't oppose it for traditional reasons, but the article says that she's in favour of same-sex unions, not marriage. She's not your typical opponent, and has actually fought for queer rights, but she's an opponent nonetheless.

[chronotopes]

The previous comment was written by me, but for some reason I wasn't logged in. I hope you don't mind me commenting in your journal, I came across this post through the UWO community. And now I want to post again because I see you appreciate Heather Mallick, and she is simply amazing

[auvergne]

We are referring to the same article. I do agree that Somerville is not homophobic. You just mentioned that it was not "entirely accurate to say that Sommerville is opposed to gay marriage". That's the comment to which I was responding. She's against gay marriage, period. She does not, however, spread anger toward gay people, though she does justify limitations on their rights.

The Globe is indeed becoming quite the sad newspaper. I believe they still have Nolen, though. They just like having columnists who stir up la merde, hence Wente and Christie Blatchford. Rex Murphy kinda serves the same purpose, only I think he actually believes what he writes, whereas Wente and Blatchford write editorals without any real reflection.

I see that you're a grad student--what's your discipline?