Explorations of freedom of speech
April 11, 2011 8:05 PM Subscribe
Looking for resources on explorations of the philosophy of 'Freedom of speech'. It seems to nowadays have a lot of baggage about it - such as the fact that people seem to mistake the platform for the speech itself or that the entire concept of freedom of speech fails to take into account that some people have a much, much louder 'voice' in today's media.
I'm not looking for arguments against freedom of speech but rather for resources that explore these ideas and maybe refine the general premise of 'freedom of speech' and explore the nuances of what it means compared to 'equality of speech' or 'power of speech' or other concepts.
I'm not looking for arguments against freedom of speech but rather for resources that explore these ideas and maybe refine the general premise of 'freedom of speech' and explore the nuances of what it means compared to 'equality of speech' or 'power of speech' or other concepts.
Matthew Bunker's Critiquing Free Speech: First Amendment Theory and the Challenge of Interdisciplinarity is a pretty good (though not entirely unbiased) overview of the various arguments surrounding "freedom of speech."
Stephen Feldman's Free Expression and Democracy in America: A History is an extremely thorough history of freedom of speech in the U.S. He covers the how the meaning of "freedom of speech," and the rationales people use for defending it, have changed over time.
If you feel like dealing with Judith Butler, Excitable Speech would be right up your alley.
I'll think about this some more, and if I come up with anything else, I'll post again.
posted by enlarged to show texture at 8:43 PM on April 11, 2011
Stephen Feldman's Free Expression and Democracy in America: A History is an extremely thorough history of freedom of speech in the U.S. He covers the how the meaning of "freedom of speech," and the rationales people use for defending it, have changed over time.
If you feel like dealing with Judith Butler, Excitable Speech would be right up your alley.
I'll think about this some more, and if I come up with anything else, I'll post again.
posted by enlarged to show texture at 8:43 PM on April 11, 2011
Actually, upon re-reading your question, the Butler book is more about hate speech than about inequitable access to public platforms. So maybe you shouldn't inflict that on yourself unless it's something that actually interests you.
posted by enlarged to show texture at 8:47 PM on April 11, 2011
posted by enlarged to show texture at 8:47 PM on April 11, 2011
Stanley Fish's There's No Such Thing As Free Speech... And It's A Good Thing Too is -- well, it's Stanley Fish. But it's definitely what you're after.
posted by holgate at 2:27 AM on April 12, 2011
posted by holgate at 2:27 AM on April 12, 2011
Response by poster: I got a response to an email I sent out to an ex-journalist that let me to a few resources that people who are interested in this topic might find useful:
"You might try Nieman News Lab at Harvard and the Columbia Journalism Review. Or look up on SSRN (Social Science Research Network). "
posted by steerpike at 9:58 PM on June 26, 2011
"You might try Nieman News Lab at Harvard and the Columbia Journalism Review. Or look up on SSRN (Social Science Research Network). "
posted by steerpike at 9:58 PM on June 26, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by The Emperor of Ice Cream at 8:22 PM on April 11, 2011