Freedom of Expression as Self-Restraint

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew H. Kramer
Keyword(s):  
Moral Responsibility ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
The Political ◽  
Legal Restrictions

Freedom of Expression as Self-Restraint rigorously expounds the principle of freedom of expression, and provides a novel justificatory foundation for it. Under that principle, a system of governance in any society can legitimately prohibit various modes of communication but cannot ever legitimately prohibit them qua modes of communication. As the book argues, such a principle is absolute in that it is exceptionless; it imposes general duties that are binding always and everywhere on every system of governance. In addition to injecting a new level of philosophical sophistication into the debates over these matters, the book supplies a novel justification for the principle of freedom of expression. It ties that principle to an ideal of governmental self-restraint, and it shows how that ideal connects to the paramount moral responsibility of every system of governance: the responsibility to bring about the political and social and economic conditions under which every member of a society can be warranted in harboring an ample sense of self-respect. In short, compliance by a system of governance with the principle of freedom of expression is integral to the fulfillment of that paramount responsibility. Kramer lengthily engages with arguments by feminists in favor of legal restrictions on pornography, and with prominent arguments in favor of banning the advocacy of hateful creeds. While accepting that some types or instances of pornography and hatemongering can properly be proscribed, he maintains that most types and instances of those modes of communication are morally protected by the principle of freedom of expression.

Governmental Self-Restraint and Individual Self-Respect

2021 ◽  
pp. 114-159
Author(s):  
Matthew H. Kramer
Keyword(s):  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Strong Sense ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
The Political ◽  
Individual Self

This pivotal chapter presents a novel justificatory foundation for the principle of freedom of expression. It elaborates a Stoical ideal of ethical strength as self-restraint, and it contends that a key element of the realization of that ideal by any system of governance lies in the system’s compliance with the principle of freedom of expression. Through arguments based on some of the ideas in Matthew Kramer’s 2017 book Liberalism with Excellence, the chapter then shows how the compliance with that principle by a system of governance crucially affects the levels of self-respect that are warranted for the members of the society over which the system presides. As a consequence, that compliance is essential for the fulfilment of the system’s paramount responsibility to bring about the political and social and economic conditions under which every member of its society can be warranted in feeling a strong sense of self-respect.

Hatred, Dignity, and Freedom of Expression

2021 ◽  
pp. 244-295
Author(s):  
Matthew H. Kramer
Keyword(s):  
First Amendment ◽  
Hate Speech ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Moral Principle ◽  
The Political ◽  
American Constitution ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
Main Target ◽  
The Usa

In his 2012 book The Harm in Hate Speech, Jeremy Waldron has argued sustainedly in favor of hate-speech laws like those that have been enacted in most of the European liberal democracies and in Canada and the Antipodes. His main target is the American position on hate speech, for in the USA any laws along the lines of those just mentioned would be violative of the First Amendment to the American Constitution. This chapter maintains that the gist of the American position is not only a corollary of the First Amendment but also a corollary of the moral principle of freedom of expression. Even more strongly, the chapter contends that the hate-speech statutes championed by Waldron are profoundly demeaning for any country wherein they are adopted. The adoption of such statutes both ensures and presupposes that a system of governance has failed to meet its responsibility to bring about the political and social and economic conditions under which every member of a society can be warranted in harboring an ample sense of self-respect.

Capital californiano, necesidad presupuestal y cambio político: Juan Temple y el arrendamiento de la Casa de Moneda de México, 1827–1857

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 327-351
Author(s):  
Omar Velasco Herrera
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Mexico City ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
The Political ◽  
Las Casas ◽  
Siglo Xix ◽  
The Government

Durante la primera mitad del siglo xix, las necesidades presupuestales del erario mexicano obligaron al gobierno a recurrir al endeudamiento y al arrendamiento de algunas de las casas de moneda más importantes del país. Este artículo examina las condiciones políticas y económicas que hicieron posible el relevo del capital británico por el estadounidense—en estricto sentido, californiano—como arrendatario de la Casa de Moneda de México en 1857. Asimismo, explora el desarrollo empresarial de Juan Temple para explicar la coyuntura política que hizo posible su llegada, y la de sus descendientes, a la administración de la ceca de la capital mexicana. During the first half of the nineteenth century, the budgetary needs of the Mexican treasury forced the government to resort to borrowing and leasing some of the most important mints in the country. This article examines the political and economic conditions that allowed for the replacement of British capital by United States capital—specifically, Californian—as the lessee of the Mexican National Mint in 1857. It also explores the development of Juan Temple’s entrepreneurship to explain the political circumstances that facilitated his admission, and that of his descendants, into the administration of the National Mint in Mexico City.

Modernization, Authoritarianism, and the Growth of Working‐Class Dissent: The Case of Spain

1973 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 432-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Maravall
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Working Class ◽  
Political Conflict ◽  
Political Context ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
The Political ◽  
Invariant Factor ◽  
The Way

THIS ARTICLE ATTEMPTS TO DISCUSS A NUMBER OF QUESTIONS RELATED to the development of a working-class movement of dissent under non-democratic conditions. In this discussion particular attention will be given to the consequences of economic development. It is not that economic development will be considered as a cross-culturally invariant factor in the explanation of social and political conflict and dissent, but that given i) a non-democratic political context and ii) social and economic conditions allowing for working-class movements whose open manifestation is hence restricted by the political set of constraints, the effects of economic development upon such contradictory conditions, and the way they influence the pattern of development of the working-class movement will be especially considered.

scholarly journals Dignity, religion and freedom of expression in South Africa

2011 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacobus C.W. Van Rooyen
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
National Pride ◽  
Form Part ◽  
Self Worth ◽  
Constitutional Right ◽  
The Republic

The issue that this article dealt with is whether, in South African law, speech that infringes upon the religious feelings of an individual is protected by the dignity clause in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. The Constitution, as well as the Broadcasting Code, prohibits language that advocates hatred, inter alia, based on religion and that constitutes incitement to cause harm. Dignity, which is a central Constitutional right, relates to the sense of self worth which a person has. A Court has held that religious feelings, national pride and language do not form part of dignity, for purposes of protection in law. The Broadcasting Complaints Commission has, similarly, decided that a point of view seriously derogatory of ‘Calvinistic people’ blaming (some of) them as being hypocritical and even acting criminally is not protected by dignity. It would have to be accompanied by the advocacy of hatred as defined previously. The author, however, pointed out that on occasion different facts might found a finding in law that religion is so closely connected to dignity, that it will indeed be regarded as part thereof.

Liverpool Merchants in 19th-Century Niger Delta

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 310-340
Author(s):  
Nimi Wariboko
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Business Ethics ◽  
Niger Delta ◽  
Max Weber ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
The Political ◽  
Religious Ethics ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Christian Missions ◽  
The Impact

Abstract How does religion or worldview affect business practices and ethics? This tradition of inquiry goes back, at least, to Max Weber who, in the Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, explored the impact of theological suppositions on capitalist economic development. But the connection can also go the other way. So the focus of inquiry can become: How does business ethics or practices affect ethics in a given nation or corporation? This paper inquires into how the political and economic conditions created and sustained by nineteenth-century trading community in the Niger Delta influenced religious practices or ethics of Christian missionaries. This approach to mission study is necessary not only because we want to further understand the work of Christian missions and also to tease out the effect of business ethics on religious ethics, but also because Christian missionaries came to the Niger Delta in the nineteenth century behind foreign merchants.

scholarly journals USE OF CYBER HATE IN THE ELECTORAL CAMPAIGNS BY THE MAINSTREAM POLITICAL PARTIES OF PAKISTAN

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 325-332
Author(s):  
Ayesha Siddiqua
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Hate Speech ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
The Political ◽  
Electoral Campaigns ◽  
General Elections ◽  
Cyber Ethics

Purpose of the study: The purpose of the study is to examine the use of cyber hate by the Pakistan’s mainstream political parties. The issue of poll rigging in Pakistan’s General Elections 2013 is examined through discourse analysis of the related tweets. The study also aims at comprehending the extent to which cyber ethics were violated during the digital electoral campaigns. Methodology: Discourse Analysis of the tweets generated from the official Twitter handles of PTI and PMLN leaders was conducted to examine the use of cyber hate by the Pakistan’s mainstream political parties. Violation of cyber ethics was explored through the qualitative interviews of 8 purposively selected social media managers of PMLN, PPP, and PTI. Main Findings: The findings indicated that party leadership/politicians used the elements of cyber hate which included abusive language, provocation, and character assassination against their opponents during the digital electoral campaign in general and regarding the poll rigging issue of Pakistan’s General Elections 2013 in specific. Resultantly the tweets using strong adjectives and metaphors on the political opponents were more frequently re-tweeted and attracted more favorites. Applications of this study: The study can be helpful in various cross-disciplinary areas that focus on the examination of the usage and impact of social media and cyberspace as a medium for hate speech dissemination. The study can significantly contribute to areas related to cyber ethics, digital electoral campaigning, freedom of expression, and political opinion building. Novelty/Originality of this study: The study’s originality lies in its attempt to unfold the foundations of digital electoral campaigning in Pakistan and how cyberhate was used as a pivotal tool for advancing the political narratives in a fragile democratic society.

Constitutionalism and Electoral Authoritarianism in Ethiopia

2021 ◽  
pp. 169-197
Author(s):  
Zemelak Ayitenew Ayele
Keyword(s):  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Civil Liberties ◽  
Developmental State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Political Dynamics ◽  
International Pressure ◽  
Electoral Authoritarianism ◽  
Socioeconomic Structure ◽  
Democratic Principles

After centuries of monarchical rule, 14 years of military rule, and three years of a one-party political system, Ethiopia adopted a constitution that provides for multiparty democracy. The Constitution establishes democratic institutions and contains democratic principles that are vital for competitive multiparty democracy; it also guarantees civil liberties and political rights, including freedom of expression and association that are critical in this regard. Be that as it may, in the past two-and-a-half decades, no competitive multiparty democracy has existed in Ethiopia. Instead, an electoral authoritarian system was instituted that allowed the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) and its affiliates to enjoy exclusive control over every level and unit of government. This was so because, among other things, even if the domestic and global political dynamics that were at work when the EPRDF came to power in the 1990s left it with no choice but to constitutionalize multipartyism, its violent history, its vanguardist self-perception, and the developmental-state paradigm it later endorsed have driven it into electoral authoritarianism. The various formal and informal mechanisms that the party put in place, the socioeconomic structure of the country, and the minimal international pressure it faced when not democratizing allowed it successfully to retain its incumbency for more than two decades. New domestic and international dynamics put pressure on the EPRDF to open up the political space and to change its leadership leading to the rise to power of Abiy Ahmed who, having begun as a reformer, is now showing the tell-tale signs of authoritarianism and harbingers of one-man rule.

Norman Salsitz, as told to Richard Skolnik

1998 ◽  
pp. 354-355
Author(s):  
Jerzy Tomaszewski
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Jewish Community ◽  
Social Stratification ◽  
Political Attitudes ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
The Political ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
Rich Family

This chapter examines how Richard Skolnik spent many hours taping the recollections of Norman Salsitz, who was born in the small Polish town of Kolbuszowa in 1920. These tapes are the basis of a book on the life and death of the shtetl until 1942. It is one of the most important sources concerning the internal life, social structure, economic conditions, traditions, and slow changes going on between the two world wars in a typical rural Jewish community. Salsitz was born into a traditional, hasidic, relatively rich family. He began early to participate in business life, and his descriptions of economic conditions, including social stratification, are vivid. Significant also are Salsitz's recollections of the political attitudes of both Jews and Poles. The Salsitz family was equally committed to Polish patriotic traditions and the Jewish way of life, but Polish attitudes towards Jews differed substantially from Jewish attitudes towards Poland and Polish identity. Jews felt patriotic towards Poland, but still suffered from some of the antisemitism of their fellow townsfolk.

Political Communication, Freedom of Expression, and Ethics

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Samet Kavoğlu ◽  
Meryem Salar
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Group Decision ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Ethics ◽  
Historical Events ◽  
National Assembly ◽  
Legal Texts ◽  
Descriptive Method

The chapter addresses the implementation of “binding group decision” problematically. According to the study, this implementation is a restrictive issue for the discourses and actions of the members of the parliament who are assigned with the duty of representation of the nation and entitled with privileges within the context of freedom of expression. In this context, the legal legislation and bylaws of the political parties with groups in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) and internal regulations are analyzed within the context of restrictive provisions. Moreover, sample cases from 22nd and 24th legislative terms of the TBMM are examined within the context of political communication, freedom of expression, and ethics. This chapter grounds on a descriptive method based on historical events and legal texts. As a result of the study, it should be stressed that the implementation of “binding group decision” needs to be examined in terms of political ethics as a restrictive element for the freedom of expression and communication, despite being legal.

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