"If freedom really means anything, it means the right to tell people what they don't want to hear."

As we have seen in recent years, free speech is endangered by a society that is more sensitive and unable to tolerate opinions contrary to its own merely because they are perceived as offensive.The universal right to free speech is a cornerstone of any liberal democracy. When instead of giving space to refute ideas with arguments, we censor them, we displace them to a position where they cannot be proven wrong and their thinkers become martyrs.

Free Speech

"The elimination of minority rights is more pronounced in countries where the protection of free speech is weaker."

"He who wishes to secure his own freedom must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he fails in that duty, he sets a precedent which will be turned against him."

The range of opinions that are considered acceptable by society at a given time. Their tendency to vary with time and place should tell us something about the cultural specificity of ethical norms.There are those who aspire for the Overton window to shrink to the size of a picture window, and for the opening that remains to fit comfortably within their prejudices.

Overton Window

Unfortunately, in recent years there has been an increasing number of cases of censorship on university campuses because students claimed they felt "offended". A place that was once the place where world-changing ideas emerged is becoming less open to free speech.Those who are unwilling to listen to ideas that might shake their most established principles run the risk of remaining on a lateral learning curve.

Censorship in the Academic System

"Just as the best art flourishes when eccentricity is tolerated, academic innovation depends on those who do not abide by received wisdom or, at the very least, who are willing to put it to the test."

"Generally, the amount of eccentricity in a society has been proportional to the amount of genius, mental vigour and moral courage it contained."

"I have always defended to the hilt the Right of any Man to have his own opinion, however different that opinion may be from mine. He who denies this right to another becomes a slave to his present opinion, because he excludes himself from the right to modify it."

"How are we supposed to react when those who wish to deprive us of our rights sincerely believe they are doing it for our own good?"

"The ancient Greeks had only one word, logos, to designate both speech and reason; not that they thought there was no speech without reason, they thought there was no reasoning without speech."

When the focus is placed on "protecting" people from potentially offensive or uncomfortable ideas, we run the risk of giving the status quo authority to censor ideas on this basis, a precedent that can be costly.Who decides which ideas are valid and which are not? We must be very careful, because once we give someone this power to judge the validity and correctness of any speech, we are unlikely to be able to reverse this authority once it is established.

Protection or Censorship?

"There is no contradiction in despising an individual for his repugnant ideas and at the same time defending his right to express them."

Discover Andrew Doyle's reflections in his book Free Speech and Why It Matters. Now more than ever it is necessary to reflect on the importance of free speech in our society, for without it, we run the risk of marginalised ideas undermining democracy in a reactionary way and remaining in a static non-evolution as a society.

'A fantastically timely book written by one of the smartest thinkers in Britain' Piers Morgan 'Impassioned, scholarly and succinct' The Times Free speech is the bedrock of all our liberties, and yet in recent years it has come to be mistrusted. A new form of social justice activism, which perceives language as potentially violent, has prompted a national debate on where the limitations of acceptable speech should be drawn. Governments throughout Europe have enacted 'hate speech' legislation to curb the dissemination of objectionable ideas, Silicon Valley tech giants are collaborating to ensure that they control the limitations of public discourse, and campaigners in the US are calling for revisions to the First Amendment. However well-intentioned, these trends represent a threat to the freedoms that our ancestors fought and died to secure. In this incisive and fascinating book, Andrew Doyle addresses head-on the most common concerns of free speech sceptics, and offers a timely and robust defence of this most foundational of principles.

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'Impassioned, scholarly and succinct' The Times FREE SPEECH AND WHY IT MATTERS Free speech is the bedrock of all our liberties, and yet in recent years it has come to be mistrusted. A new form of social justice activism, which perceives language as potentially violent, has prompted a national debate on where the limitations of acceptable speech should be drawn. Governments throughout Europe have enacted 'hate speech' legislation to curb the dissemination of objectionable ideas, Silicon Valley tech giants are collaborating to ensure that they control the limitations of public discourse, and campaigners in the US are calling for revisions to the First Amendment. However well-intentioned, these trends represent a threat to the freedoms that our ancestors fought and died to secure. In this incisive and fascinating book, Andrew Doyle addresses head-on the most common concerns of free speech sceptics, and offers a timely and robust defence of this most foundational of principles.

JACOB MCHANGAMA

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