Freedom of Speech and Expression: Its History, Its Value, Its Good Use, and Its Misuse

217 Pages·2021·7.48 MB·English

by  Richard Sorabji

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FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND EXPRESSION
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THE RUTGERS LECTURES IN PHILOSOPHY
Larry S. Temkin, series editor
Published in the series
Vagueness: A Global Approach
Kit Fine
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FREEDOM OF SPEECH
AND EXPRESSION
Its History, Its Value, Its Good Use,
and Its Misuse
Richard Sorabji
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1
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers
the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education
by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University
Press in the UK and certain other countries.
Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press
198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America.
© Oxford University Press 2021
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
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above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the
address above.
You must not circulate this work in any other form
and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer.
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Sorabji, Richard, author.
Title: Freedom of speech and expression : its history, its value, its good use, and its
misuse / Richard Sorabji.
Description: New York, NY : Oxford University Press, 2021. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020037508 (print) | LCCN 2020037509 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780197532157 (hardback) | ISBN 9780197532171 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Freedom of speech. | Freedom of expression. | Social media.
Classification: LCC JC591.S 66 2021 (print) | LCC JC591 (ebook) |
DDC 323.44/3 —d c23
LC record available at https:// lccn.loc.gov/ 2020037508
LC ebook record available at https:// lccn.loc.gov/ 2020037509
DOI: 10.1093/ oso/ 9780197532157.001.0001
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Printed by Integrated Books International, United States of America
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“Cicero denouncing Catiline” by John Leech. Courtesy of the Posner
Memorial Collection, Special Collections, Carnegie Mellon University
Libraries, Pittsburgh PA. From Gilbert Abbott A. Beckett and John
Leech, The Comic History of Rome. London 1870: Bradbury, Evans & Co.
(DG210 A12 1852A).
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To Laila and Nadia
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CONTENTS
Series Editor Foreword ix
Acknowledgements xvii
Introduction xix
1. The benefits seen in free speech and its
gradual extension from some to all: An
intercultural history 1
2. The benefits of free speech and expression:
Productive versus counter- productive speech,
and voluntary boundaries 62
3. Free speech on social media: How to protect
our freedoms from those social media that are
funded by trade in our personal data 108
Bibliography 177
Index 183
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SERIES EDITOR FOREWORD
In 2014, I had the distinct privilege of being Chair of the
Department of Philosophy at Rutgers, The State University
of New Jersey. Soon after I become Chair, Peter Ohlin, phi-
losophy editor of Oxford University Press, USA, broached the
idea of Rutgers organizing a major annual lecture series, where
Rutgers would carefully select among the world’s leading phi-
losophers to give a series of three original lectures which would
be subsequently revised for publication in a book series by
Oxford University Press. It was Peter’s hope that such a series
might soon come to be recognized as one of the most impor-
tant annual events on the philosophical calendar, and might
one day come to rival the Locke Lectures, Dewey Lectures,
and Tanner Lectures in stature.