Political Theory: Joel Feinberg And John Stuart Mills
Political Theory Essay 1 After the shootings at Charlie Hebdo, there was tremendous sympathy for the victims, but the debate over whether there are any limits to free speech continue. Are there any cases when expression should be limited? Why? In this essay I will argue the view that there are circumstances where expression should be limited, while drawing on the views of Joel Feinberg and John Stuart Mills to broaden and strengthen my argument. I will attempt to justify that John Stuart Mills approach to the argument of Freedom of Speech is the most valid, and the only instance where expression should be limited is where it causes an immediate harm or violation to the rights of others. I believe that expression should be limited when it causes harm to others or violates their rights. This view coincides with J.S Mill’s “Harm Principle”. I do not believe that hate speech should be prohibited as it merely …show more content…
Unless of course, this expression is inciting violent or illegal behaviour, or threatening others, in which case it is directly harmful and should therefore be prohibited. I think J.S. Mill would agree with me on these points as he states “the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others.” (Mill, J.S.,1978). Joel Feinberg, who also had very influential views on the Freedom of Speech debate, may respond to Mills view and propose that the Harm Principle is not enough: “In some instances, Feinberg suggests, we also need an offense principle that can act as a guide to public censure. The basic idea is that the harm principle sets the bar too high
Supreme Court's Ruling In Favor Of Phelps Essay
445 Words | 2 PagesFor example being on a plane and yelling bomb or being in a crowded room and yelling fire when there is no bomb or fire. Yelling those things will cause people to panic and can cause problems and might injure people. Everything else should be protected under the first amendment. A quote from Benjamin Franklin, “Without Freedom of Thought, there can be no such Thing as Wisdom; and no such Thing as publick Liberty, without Freedom of Speech; which is the Right of every Man, as far as by it, he does not hurt or control the Right of another: And this is the only Check it ought to suffer, and the only Bounds it ought
Analysis Of Liz Garbus Shouting Fire
925 Words | 4 PagesLiz Garbus's, Shouting Fire: Stories from the Edge of Free Speech\ explores the political as well as the social context of American's freedom of speech in the post 9/11 era. While watching Garbus's documentary, one can predict that how freedom of speech, as a part of The First Amendment, is violated after the 9/11 era, for “security” reasons. The documentary begins with Ward Churchill, a political activist, author and professor of ethnic studies at the University of Colorado. He exposed the hidden facts of endangered freedom of speech in America. He had to face harsh circumstances for using his right of speech and ultimately in 2005, he eventually got fired from the University of Colorado because of his unethical views about the foreign
First Amendment Limitations
259 Words | 2 PagesAnother limitation that does not protect citizens under the First Amendment is using fighting words that disturb the peace. In April 1940, Walter Chaplinsky was in downtown in Rochester, New Hampshire handing out literature and speaking publicly about religion. As Chaplinsky continued to talk, the crowd continued to grow, blocking the streets and disturbing the area. The public around him became upset with Chaplinsky as he began to denounce religion as “racket”.
Annotated Bibliography On Overcriminalizing Speech
1204 Words | 5 PagesThe article argues that the courts should only view harmful speech in the same eyes and rule them the same as if they were conduct harms. The source then discusses how many scholars believe that freedom of speech only applies when the benefits outweigh the harms, regarding what is being said. The article does a good job of approaching the problem through a semi-neutral lens. The article clearly lets its opinion be known at times; however, it approaches the opposite side of the argument in a fair manner. The article will be incredibly beneficial because it discusses when freedom of speech should not apply with a neutral approach.
A Rhetorical Analysis Of On Liberty By John Stuart Mill
590 Words | 3 Pages“If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing than one person than he, if he has the power, would be justified in silencing mankind” (Mill, 1859, p.14). In the essay On Liberty by John Stuart Mill, written in 1859. Mill discusses his thoughts on the issue of freedom of speech and expresses his argument throughout the entirety of the essay. His argument states that society should be able to express themselves through speech without the threat of the Government or the tyranny of the majority interrupting the speaker`s liberty. He claims that as long as what an individual is saying does not cause direct harm on others an individual should be able to speak their beliefs freely without any consequences.
You Can T Read This Book: Censorship In An Age Of Freedom
1207 Words | 5 PagesIn some circumstances, the supreme court has held that certain types of speech are only of “low” first amendment value, such as: defamation, true threats, “fighting words,” obscenity, child pornoaphy, commercial advertising. Outside of “low” value speech, most other content-based restrictions on speech are presumptively unconstitutional. Even entertainment, vulgarity, “hate speech,” bigoted speech, blasphemy, and violent video games are protected by the first amendment. The second situations where the government can restrict speech under a less demanding standard when the speaker is in a special relationship to the government (ex. teachers). The third circumstance would be when it does so without regard to the content of the message of the speech.
We The People Chapter 4 Summary
501 Words | 3 PagesThese forms of speech aren’t protected by the First Amendment because they can help to incite people
Analysis Of Free Speech Follies By Stanley Fish
103 Words | 1 PagesPeople have the tendency to take the First Amendment for granted, but some tend to use it to their favor. Stanley Fish presents his main argument about how people misuse this amendment for all their conflicts involving from racial issues to current political affairs in his article, Free-Speech Follies. His article involves those who misinterpret the First Amendment as their own works or constantly use it as an excuse to express their attitudes and desires about a certain subject matter. He expresses his personal opinions against those who consistently use the First Amendment as a weapon to defend themselves from harm of criticism.
Freedom Of Speech: The Case Of The Charlie Hebdo Shootings
1685 Words | 7 PagesMill’s statements on the freedom of speech is what I will rely on for my argument. Mill’s view on the freedom of speech is still relevant today because he does not take the view that there shouldn’t be any freedom of speech, but that it should be limited at certain times and this issue is very relevant in today’s society. Mill states a bold statement in the footnote at the beginning of Chapter II of On Liberty, in defence of the freedom of speech ‘If the arguments of the present chapter are of any validity, there ought to exist the fullest liberty of professing and discussing, as a matter of ethical conviction, any doctrine, however immoral it may be considered’. Mill clearly is in the defence of the freedom of speech here because this liberty has to exist with everything so that we have ‘absolute freedom of
I Am Not Charlie Hebdo Analysis
921 Words | 4 PagesThe journalists at Charlie Hebdo had published multiple cartoons mocking the Prophet Muhammad. On January 7th 2015, in response to the cartoons, two men claiming to be members of Al Qaeda barged into the magazines office and opened fire, killing 11 people. To Brooks, public reaction to the attack was nothing but hypocritical. Those killed became martyrs for freedom of expression. But if a magazine had published a satirical cartoon of the same sort here in America, they might not have been killed for it, but instead they would not be looked upon in the same light as those who lost their lives in Paris.
Freedom Of Speech Vs Hate Speech Essay
1304 Words | 6 PagesBut the category ‘hate speech’ has come to function quite differently from prohibitions on incitement to violence. It has become a means of rebranding obnoxious political arguments as immoral and so beyond the boundaries of accepted reasonable debate. It makes certain sentiments illegitimate, thereby disenfranchising those who hold such views”. As long as the speech is not promoting violence, or is not one of the types of speeches that are not protected by the first amendment, then there’s no reason for it not to be heard and be debated with the
Why Is Free Speech Important?
535 Words | 3 PagesFree speech facilitates the resolution of conflicts and optimal decision-making by the citizenry. Free speech, however, is not entirely without restraint; surrounding conditions dictate the reasonableness of any control thereof. The current legal position in the United States of America, where the Supreme Court has pronounced that speech, even belligerent speech, may only be impeded and regulated in the distinct and extant risk of impending conduct, contrary to the law, deviates from the norm internationally and in other nations. Among the few concessions to this legal
Populism And Relativism
1561 Words | 7 PagesAre limitations needed? If so, where to draw the line? Where to draw the line between advocacy and public nuisance; Government censorship and moral responsibility, freedom of expression and civic responsibility? It is suggested that there is a place for holding these tensions in society to counter the unchecked development of (extreme) events such as those which generated the WWII Jewish persecution and censorship in Germany by the Nazis resulting in Kristallnacht (Touro College libraries, 2014), or the takeover of public debate through populism and the danger of its decent into some form of Fascism.
J. S. Mill On Liberty Thesis
322 Words | 2 PagesThe thesis for J.S. Mill, On Liberty is whether we should be able to act upon our opinions. According to Mill, we need to be able to have opinions and express them without being held back. To act on those opinions, is another point, our actions are not as free as our opinions. Our opinions shouldn’t infringe on others, but if they do not get in the way, you should be allowed to practice at your own risk.
Advantages Of Freedom Of Speech
2363 Words | 10 Pages1.0 INTRODUCTION In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), freedom of speech falls under the Article 19 which is the freedom of opinion and expression. It protects one’s freedom ‘to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers’ (The United Nations, 1948). Article 19(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) adds that the freedom of expression could be ‘either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice’. Besides being an individual’s fundamental liberty of expression, Santa Clara University School of Law Professor Russell W. Galloway (1991) states that free speech is the ‘matrix of all other freedoms’.
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