[Vision2020] Another perspective on free speech

Joe Campbell philosopher.joe at gmail.com
Thu Sep 27 12:24:30 PDT 2012


Thanks Ron. This is similar to some of Tom's posts I think.

One question is what KINDS of reasons can we have for restricting speech? Everyone agrees that we can restrict speech if and when it leads to physical, social, or economic harm. If someone is in fact trying to incite a riot, his speech is not protected.

Some think that offense is enough to warrant restricting speech but I don't think so. In fact, I agree with Paul that it is best to never use the law to restrict speech. Better to allow for insults and questionable speech-harms; better to err on the side of free expression.

But when people abuse these privileges, as in the case of the recent video that sparked riots in the Middle East, they can and should be criticized.

On Sep 27, 2012, at 10:23 AM, Ron Force <rforce2003 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/09/free-speech-and-the-1st-amendment-arent-always-the-same-thing/262894/ 
>  
> Ron Force
> Moscow Idaho USA
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