>And I don’t mean that last statement facetiously; academic freedom and campus free speech are under attack. But what I want folks to understand is that academic freedom has always been under attack: it has always been so.

This article summarizes a view that can ascribed to Leo Strauss -- the idea that philosophy (which we can use here as a synonym for any rational endeavor) is often disjoint with political and cultural aims of a given moment. This poses a grave problem for philosophers, particularly if they enjoy, ehem, being alive.

Strauss argues that as such, philosophers must practice their craft carefully, and sometimes even surreptitiously. Hence overtly religious philosophers placing their actual, often impious ideas in the mouths of characters in their dialogues, characters that the philosopher appears to be critiquing.