Doing sociology and philosophy in real time by looking at developments in contemporary Western politics and culture, from a Moral Libertarian perspective. My mission is to stop the cultural systemist left and the authoritarian right from destroying the West's Enlightenment traditions.
Why Free Speech is Morally Required At All Costs | Moral Libertarian Talk
Welcome to Moral Libertarian Talk, where we explore political ideas, issues and misunderstandings in depth, from the Moral Libertarian viewpoint. Subscribe if you are interested. This show is brought to you by my new book, The Moral Libertarian Idea, which is all about reimagining a positive and pro-community, pro-humanity classical liberalism for the 21st century. Link is in the description.
People sometimes ask me why I am so dedicated to free speech. Why couldn't I just accept that some speech is harmful for minorities and hence require censoring? Why couldn't I just appreciate that speech can hurt people? Besides the fact that I generally oppose safetyism, and the fact that these are sometimes bad-faith arguments put forth by those with a Marcusean agenda anyway, the fact is, I appreciate that there could be downsides to free speech. But given the moral importance of free speech, no downside can justify its suspension, under any circumstances. To understand why free speech is morally important, I think we should look at its origin in the set of ideas we call 'classical liberalism'.
