19/07/2020
Harper’s Magazine
A manifesto that calls for strengthening democracy and the rule of law, published in Harper’s magazine by intellectuals of various backgrounds and ideology, has been received with shouts and stones by the same intransigence that he criticized. The reaction has pushed a diverse group of Spanish scientists, academics, writers and journalists to launch a letter of support.
Written from a progressive point of view, but inviting people of different sensibilities and positions, the Spanish letter has brought together a heterogeneous and transversal group. Reactionary and polarized drifts that propose cancellation and lynching are criticized as a means to achieve any end, regardless of how valuable or shared it is.
There have been unexpected accessions: progressives, conservatives and liberals have contributed their signature. Some have stated that there are points in the letter that they do not share, and even misgivings towards other signatories, but in a compromise exercise in tune with the spirit of the text, they have decided to adhere. No veto has been accepted, and many absences are due to promoters’ lack of skill and their limited schedule. So there are not all who could appear, and among the signatories there is no monolithic opinion.
Some have stated that they do not share, but in a compromise exercise in tune with the spirit of the text, they have decided to adhere
Representatives of culture sign as the Nobel Prize for Literature Mario Vargas Llosa, Milena Busquets, Sergi Pàmies, César Antonio Molina, Mercedes Monmany, Ignacio Martínez de Pisón, Loola Pérez, Oscar Tusquets, Jimina Sabadú, Nicole d’Amonville, Alberto Olmos, Nuria Azancot, José Luis López Linares, Karina Sainz Borgo, Eduardo Moga, Carmen Posadas, Carlos Granés, Alexis Ravelo, Eva Serrano, Luis Alberto de Cuenca, José María Merino, María Zaragoza, Pedro Insua, Juan Soto Ivars, Daniel Gascón, María Borrás, Elvira Roca Barea, Fernando Savater, Félix Ovejero, Verónica Puertollano y Amelia Pérez de Villar, between others.
From the field of science and the university, people like, Jaume Casals (rector of UPF), Adela Cortina (Emeritus Professor of Ethics and Political Philosophy at the University of Valencia), Pablo de Lora (Professor of Philosophy of Law at the UAM), José Manuel Blecua (RAE), Pablo Malo (psychiatrist), Antonio Sitges-Serra (surgeon and writer), Anna Estany, (Professor of Philosophy of Science, UAB), José Lázaro(Professor of Medical Humanities at UAM), Joan Josep Moreso, (Professor of Philosophy of Law, UPF), Olga Valverde (Professor of Psychobiology at UPF), Manuel Hernández Iglesias (Professor of Logic and Philosophy of Science, UM), Eduardo Sánchez Iglesias, (professor of Political Sciences and Sociology at UCM), Pere Mestres, (Saarland University, Germany), Eduardo Spagnolo (epidemiologist); and doctors as Juan Gérvas, Mercedes Pérez-Fernández, Luis Palomo,Cayetano Rodríguez, Marc Antoni Broggi o Alberto Planes.
From the field of journalism, figures like Nacho Cardero (El Confidencial), Guillem Martínez (ctxt), Patricia López (Público), Diego A. Manrique (El País), Anna Grau (La Sexta), David Torres (Público),Joaquim Coll (El Periódico), Ricardo Dudda (Letras Libres), Ignacio Varela (El Confidencial), Leyre Iglesias (El Mundo), Cristina Casabón(The Objective), Arcadi Espada (El Mundo), Víctor Lenore (VozPópuli), Teodoro León Gross (El País), Rafael Latorre (Onda Cero), Jorge Bustos (El Mundo), Juan Cruz (El País) Juan Luis Cebrián (El País),Rebeca Argudo (El Español), Javier Benegas (Disidentia), Daniel Arjona(El Confidencial), Julio Valdeón (La Razón), Pablo Blázquez (Ethics), Ramón de España (Crónica Global), o Víctor Amela (La Vanguardia), between others.
And people from other areas ranging from law, such as lawyers Guadalupe Sánchez, Carlos Sánchez Almeida, Cristina Moreno o Borja Adsuara), enterprise (Borja Sémper) political scientist (Aurora Nacarino-Brabo, Xabel Vegas, César Calderón o Verónica Fumanal), or theater, with Goyo Jiménez.
The letter
We are of the opinion that the letter sent to HARPER’S by writers and intellectuals of various political origins and tendencies, within a liberal, progressive and democratic current, contains an important message.
We want to make clear that we join the movements that fight not only in the United States but globally against the scourges of society such as sexism, racism or contempt for immigrants, but we also express our concern about the perverse use of just causes to stigmatize people who are not sexist or xenophobic or, more generally, to introduce censorship, cancellation and rejection of free, independent, and alien thought to intransigent political correctness. Unfortunately, in the last decade we have witnessed the irruption of ideological currents, supposedly progressive, characterized by radicalism, and which appeals to such causes to justify attitudes and behaviors that we consider unacceptable.
We support movements that fight against the scourges of society, but we also express our concern about their evil use
Thus, we regret that there have been reprisals in the media against intellectuals and journalists who have criticized the opportunistic abuses of #MeToo or new age anti-slavery; Retaliation that has also become evident in our country through discreet or noisy maneuvers of ostracism and forgetfulness against free thinkers unfairly branded as macho or racist and mistreated in the media, if not lynched in the networks. Of all this (layoffs, cancellation of congresses, boycotts of professionals) business leaders, institutional representatives, editors and editorial managers have special responsibility, fearful of the negative repercussion that they may have for the opinions dissenting with the hegemonic approaches in certain sectors.
The ideological conformity that the new radicality tries to impose – which is so similar to superstitious or extreme right censorship – has an undemocratic foundation and implies an attitude of moral supremacism that we believe is inappropriate and contrary to the postulates of any ideology that is claimed “Of justice and progress”.
The intransigence that has been making its way between a certain left will only reinforce conservative political positions
As if that were not enough, the intransigence and dogmatism that have been making their way between a certain left, will only reinforce conservative and national-populist political positions and, like a boomerang, will turn against the changes that many of us consider unavoidable to achieve a more fair and friendly coexistence.
From these lines, we seek the support of those who share the concern about the censorship that is exerted on the debate on certain issues that become new ideological taboos, which are supposedly untouchable and indisputable.
Free culture is not harmful to disadvantaged social groups: on the contrary, we believe that culture is emancipatory and censorship, however well-intentioned it may appear, counterproductive. As the signatories to the Harper’s manifesto think, “Overcoming bad ideas is achieved through open debate, argumentation and persuasion, and not by silencing or repudiating them.”
Signatories, in alphabetical order:
Juan Abreu, escritor
Rafael Alarcón, ingeniero industrial
José María Albert de Paco, periodista
Víctor Amela, periodista y escritor
Nicole d’Amonville Alegría, poeta, traductora y editora
Rebeca Argudo, periodista
Daniel Arjona, periodista
Javier Arias, decano de la Facultad de Medicina, U. Complutense
Francesc Arroyo, periodista
Mikel Arteta, doctor en Filosofía Moral y Política
Javier Asensio, profesor de economía, UAB
Nuria Azancot, crítica cultural
Beatriz Becerra, eurodiputada experta en DDHH
Javier Benegas, editor en Disidentia
María Blanco, columnista
Pablo Blázquez, editor de Ethics
José Manuel Blecua, filólogo (RAE)
Marc Antoni Broggi, cirujano
María Borrás Blancaflor, directora de Qué Leer
Milena Busquets, escritora
Jorge Bustos, periodista
César Calderón, consultor político
Cristian Campos, periodista
Nacho Cardero, director de El Confidencial
Cristina Casabón, columnista
Jaume Casals, Rector Universitat Pompeu Fabra
David Castillo, escritor
Juan Luis Cebrián, periodista
Joaquim Coll, historiador y articulista
Álvaro Colomer, escritor
Jesús Conill Sancho, Catedrático de Filosofía Moral de la Universidad de Valencia
Adela Cortina, catedrática emérita de Ética y Filosofía Política de la Universidad de Valencia
Juan Cruz, periodista
Luis Alberto de Cuenca, poeta
Antonio Diéguez Lucena, profesor de filosofía de la ciencia
Ricardo Dudda, periodista
Arcadi Espada, periodista
Ramón de España, columnista
Anna Estany, catedrática de filosofía de la ciencia, UAB
Manuel Felices, cirujano
Jorge Ferrer, traductor y escritor.
Verónica Fumanal, consultora política
Luis García Gil, escritor
Javier García-Gibert, filólogo y ensayista
Daniel Gascón, periodista y escritor
Juan Gérvas, médico y escritor
Meritxell Girvent, Profesora de Nutrición Humana. UPF
Santiago González, periodista
Teresa Giménez Barbat, escritora y ex eurodiputada
Carlos Granés, escritor
Mariano Hernández, psiquiatra
Manuel Hernández Iglesias, Catedrático de Lógica y Filosofía de la Ciencia
Juanjo de la Iglesia, periodista
Leyre Iglesias, periodista en El Mundo
Pedro Insua, profesor de filosofía
Juan Irigoyen. profesor de sociología, U. De Granada
Diego Isabel, Director Foro de Nueva Economía e Innovación Social
Juanjo Jambrina, escritor y psiquiatra
Tomás Jiménez, profesor U. Oberta Catalunya
Leopoldo Kulesz, editor
Rafa Latorre, periodista
José Lázaro, profesor de Humanidades Médicas en la UAM
Gloria de la Llave Cuevas, profesora de filosofía y escritora
Víctor Lenore, periodista cultural
Teodoro León Gross, periodista
Patricia López, periodista
José Luis López Linares, director de documentales
Pablo de Lora, profesor titular de Filosofía del Derecho de la UAM.
Ignacio Martínez de Pisón, escritor
David Mejía, profesor y columnista
Sabino Méndez, escritor y músico
Pablo Malo, psiquiatra
Diego A. Manrique, periodista
Guillem Martínez, periodista
José María Merino, escritor y miembro de la RAE
Pere Mestres, Saarland University (Alemania)
Eduardo Moga, poeta.
Alejandro Molina, abogado
César Antonio Molina, poeta
Mercedes Monmany, escritora
JA Montano, columnista
Cristina Moreno, abogada, Política & Prosa
Joan Josep Moreso, catedrático de filosofía del derecho, UPF
Enrique Murillo, editor
Aurora Nacarino-Brabo, politóloga
Miquel Nadal Tárrega, historiador y abogado
Pedro Narváez, periodista
Jesús Nieto Jurado. Escritor, columnista y actor de doblaje
Alberto Olmos, escritor
Félix Ovejero, filósofo
Luis Palomo, médico, director “Salud 2000”
Sergi Pàmies, escritor
Amelia Pérez de Villar, traductora
Loola Pérez, escritora y sexóloga feminista
Lluís Pascual, economista
Mercedes Pérez-Fernández, médica y escritora
Ariel Petrucelli, profesor de historia, Universidad de Comahue, Argentina
Alberto Planes, médico de familia
Carmen Posadas, escritora
Ponç Puigdevall, escritor
Jaime Prat, catedrático emérito de patología, UAB
Verónica Puertollano, traductora
Alexis Ravelo, escritor
Maite Rico, periodista
Javier Rioyo, escritor y cineasta
Elvira Roca Barea, escritora
Cayetano Rodríguez, médico
Jimina Sabadú, escritora
Karina Sainz Borgo, escritora
Josep Sampera, gestor cultural
Guadalupe Sánchez, abogada
Galo Sánchez, Evalmed
Carlos Sánchez Almeida, abogado
Eduardo Sánchez Iglesias, profesor de Ciencias Políticas y Sociología de la UCM
Ferran Sanz, catedrático de informática biomédica, UPF
Fernando Savater, filósofo
Borja Sémper, expolítico
Montse Serrano, librera
Eva Serrano, editora
Antonio Sitges-Serra, escritor y cirujano
Juan Soto Ivars, escritor y columnista
Eduardo Spagnolo, epidemiólogo
Manuel Toscano, filósofo
David Torres, escritor y periodista en Público
Ferran Toutain, escritor
Oscar Tusquets, artista disperso
Jesús Fernández Úbeda, periodista
Julio Valdeón, periodista
Zoe Valdés, escritora
Olga Valverde (catedrática de Psicobiología de la UPF)
Ignacio Varela, periodista
Mario Vargas Llosa, Premio Nobel de Literatura
Xabel Vegas, columnista
Ramiro Villapaderna, periodista y gestor cultural
María Zaragoza, escritora
https://www.elconfidencial.com/cultura/2020-07-19/manifiesto-harpers-libertad-de-expresion_2688296/
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