“We can know we have gotten nearer to the truth, but we can never know that we have reached the truth.”
— Karl Popper
Popper didn’t question the existence of truth—he questioned our certainty in grasping it. That distinction is everything.
The pursuit of truth requires humility. It requires debate. And it requires institutions—like universities—that protect the space for disagreement, dissent, and intellectual challenge.
AFSA stands for the kind of higher education that values truth enough to test it constantly.
That’s what academic freedom is for.
That’s what viewpoint diversity defends.
That’s why free speech isn’t optional—it’s foundational.
If universities abandon that mission, they abandon truth itself.
