Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Free Speech isn't Always Easy

Great post that includes a marvelous defense of freedom of expression from Yale University, which was produced in reaction to William Shockley's being denied the right to speak his racially offensive ideas on campus due to mob threats.  And here is Brayton's core argument:

"But the Woodward committee understands what many radical students do not, that silencing those whose views enrage us is really just a poor means of assuaging our own insecurities. The zeal to censor, while understandable on an emotional level, is primarily a reflection of our lack of confidence in the power of reason to persuade and to separate the true from the false."

 

Posted via web from reannon's posterous

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