Monday 25 January 2021

No, they're not "exceptions" to free speech





"What about the apparent exceptions to freedom of speech— restrictions on libel, fraud, incitement, and so on? Shouldn’t the legal system restrict a person engaged in those types of speech?
    "Yes, it should. The reason is not that they constitute exceptions, however. Rather, it should do so as the proper, context-sensitive application of the absolute principle of free speech."

~ philosopher Tara Smith, from her paper 'The Free Speech Vernacular: Conceptual Confusions in the Way We Speak About Speech'


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2 comments:

Kiwiwit said...

Exactly. This is the same reason that there is no right to a "roof over one's head" - it presupposes that there is a right to infringe on other's rights to life and liberty.

Peter Cresswell said...

Indeed. There is a right to peacefully *pursue* putting a roof over one's head, and clear right to it once erected, but no "right" for others to supply you with one.