SOSC 3360 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Harm Principle, Hate Speech
16 Mar 2016
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Section 2(b) freedom of expression is pretty vague and broad. Look to various theorists that talk about why it"s important to protect free speech. When we talk about speech there is a question of perspective. 3 different interests to protect freedom of speech: speaker, audience, general public. The interests of the three parties may not always agree. Mill was a libertarian (state should have as little interference as possible) Harm principle: state can"t intervene in a person"s autonomy to act unless it is harming others. We need freedom of speech in order to ensure that we arrive from the truth: not necessarily obvious. If you believe in the right to determine truth you need to have the right to say what is false. The worst thing we can do is let the state do the thinking for us: the state shouldn"t be seen as infallible, we need to keep the state honest and it should be challenged.
