On August 28, Inside Higher Ed ran an interesting story about Professor Cynthia Jones of Texas-Pan American entitled “Dirty Money.” Professor Jones, who teaches philosophy, dissents from the common academic notion that taking money from allegedly bad sources (e.g., the Koch brothers) is ethically wrong. She argues that so long as the source can’t dictate research results, there is no reason to refuse a grant or donation.

That supposed ethical problem arose a few months ago when the United Negro College Fund did not turn down $25 million from the Kochs, money it will use for more scholarships. (I wrote about that controversy in this piece.)

I particularly liked Professor Jones’s point that it is ridiculous to gripe about funding from private sources and blissfully accepting government funds: “It’s amusing that we think government money is somehow clean but private money is somehow dirty.” Sadly, though, she doesn’t quite nail the point down with the observation that government money comes via coercion against taxpayers, but only complains about how the state government in Texas is “ethically suspect.” The most squeaky clean, ethically upright government ever still gets its money through force, while private sources obtain theirs through voluntary processes.