The limits of academic freedom

Abstract

Dealing with the problems of boundaries in academic life of freedom of speech, funding of research conducted by scholars, and tolerance of such behaviour that hinders this life can be considered the most significant indicators of the condition of learning and teaching in higher education. They have appeared practically since the first universities were established in both Western countries and Poland. The fact that these countries were able to cope with them somehow is evidenced by the fact that their universities today occupy leading positions in prestigious rankings and their scholars have ground-breaking discoveries to their credit. Polish universities either take distant places in these rankings or do not appear in them at all. I treat these reflections as a voice in the discussion on the reasons for Poland's failure to keep up with the world's leaders.