Politics Positive Liberty and Social Rights: Freedom of Speech on Campus Posted on October 5, 2018October 6, 2018One commentbyAustin A. Lam On university campuses, on the whole, people should be able to express their minds freely and openly, even if they hold contrarian opinions. Campuses are generally places of intellectual inquiry… View Post
View Post 8 min Politics How Free Should Free Speech Be? Posted on August 22, 2018August 22, 201818 commentsbyTyler Watkins Maybe it came in the form of racism or sexism, such as in the cases of Roseanne Barr, Quinn Norton, or Sarah Jeong. Maybe it was someone whose jokes were… View Post
View Post 10 min Features Freedom of Speech and the Fallacy of Demanding to be Heard Posted on April 7, 20189 commentsbyHelen Pluckrose and James A. Lindsay There is a troubling misunderstanding of the principle of freedom of speech gaining momentum right now. It fundamentally misunderstands two central concepts of the principle — individual freedom and the… View Post
View Post 25 min Features The Reality of the Rise of an Intolerant and Radical Left on Campus Posted on March 17, 2018March 24, 201813 commentsbyLee Jussim The darkest part is not the rise of radicalism, but the passive acquiescence of the vast majority of faculty and students. View Post
View Post 7 min Politics The Case of Lindsay Shepherd and What It Teaches Us about How Learning Occurs Posted on November 24, 2017December 31, 20175 commentsbyIona Italia People with real power over someone else often use the excuse that they are defending “victims” to engage in the most shameless bullying. View Post
View Post 11 min Politics From the Satanic Verses to Charlie Hebdo Posted on October 26, 2017December 31, 20172 commentsbyKenan Malik This is the transcript of a talk that Kenan Malik gave at the Integrity 20 conference in Brisbane, Australia on October 19th, 2017. First published on Pandaemonium, Malik’s personal website,… View Post
View Post 18 min Features The Moral Contamination of Free Speech Posted on September 29, 2017January 27, 201810 commentsbyMalhar Mali We find ourselves living in an age where free speech is considered by many as a concept that only right-wingers care about. “You think free speech is important?” I’m asked.… View Post
View Post 5 min Politics What Charlie Hebdo Can Teach Us About the Nature of Satire Posted on September 1, 2017September 8, 20178 commentsbyIona Italia The French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo is once more at the center of a storm of controversy over the cover cartoon they posted in response to the recent Houston floods.… View Post
View Post 3 min Politics If It’s OK to “Punch a Nazi,” Then It’s OK to Punch You Posted on August 27, 2017September 8, 20176 commentsbyPhilip Steele There’s a meme circulating on the internet which righteously urges everyone to “Punch Nazis.” Promoting this phrase has become a virtue-signal in certain circles of the left, and even among… View Post
View Post 4 min Culture & Media Politics Why We All Love Minorities (and Want to Be One) Posted on July 7, 2017September 11, 2017One commentbyMaarten Boudry Who wants to belong to a minority? Who wants to feel left out or marginalized, merely because you are different from the mainstream, or because you hold unpopular views? Who… View Post
View Post 7 min Politics Why I Am a Free Speech Absolutist Posted on July 6, 2017September 8, 201737 commentsbyIona Italia I was recently reading an article by Ulrich Baer, in the New York Times, entitled “What Snowflakes Get Right About Free Speech.” The author defended the actions of students who disrupted recent… View Post
View Post 9 min Features The Progressive Case for Free Speech Posted on June 12, 2017October 6, 20175 commentsbyJacob Mchangama It’s a paradox: The ability to communicate, spread and access information freely across borders and barriers has never been more readily available to people around the globe. Yet the belief… View Post
View Post 7 min Features Who Teaches Students That Words Are Violence? Posted on May 3, 2017November 23, 201730 commentsbyMalhar Mali Last week, Ulrich Baer, a vice-provost and a professor of English at New York University, made an astonishing case against free speech in the New York Times. Baer framed the debate as… View Post
View Post 5 min Politics Shut Up for Free Speech Posted on May 1, 2017September 9, 201711 commentsbyJames A. Lindsay Freedom of speech, it is said, is our most essential freedom because it reinforces and safeguards all other rights. People will go to great lengths, including dying, to defend this… View Post
View Post 10 min Politics On Blasphemy Laws Posted on February 24, 2017September 9, 20172 commentsbyMalhar Mali Walaiha Irafat did not know why they came for her. In Pakistan, during March 2012, she was arrested for allegations of “spitting and sitting on the Koran,” and also “tearing… View Post
View Post 4 min Culture & Media Politics The Virtues of Free Speech Posted on February 23, 2017September 9, 20172 commentsbyMichael Sherlock Free speech must include the right to offend. Granted, there are limitations upon free speech which do serve valuable and necessary functions — such as the prohibition against incitement to violence,… View Post
Midnight's Children <\/em>and The Satanic Verses<\/em>. <\/em>Rushdie was once the subject of death threats; now, when asked if he can move about freely Rushdie responds: \"You have to stop asking me. ... It's been like 16 years since it's been OK.\"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"gettyimages-154115248","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="gettyimages-154115248" data-image-description="" data-medium-file="https://web.archive.org/web/20181101155333/https://i1.wp.com/areomagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/gettyimages-154115248_wide-b345d71f3d922492f9bf3e561339dacba26075f1.jpg?fit=300%2C169&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://web.archive.org/web/20181101155333/https://i1.wp.com/areomagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/gettyimages-154115248_wide-b345d71f3d922492f9bf3e561339dacba26075f1.jpg?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=1"/> View Post 7 min Review The Salman Rushdie Fatwah, 28 Years Later Posted on February 14, 2017September 8, 20177 commentsbyMalhar Mali When Salman Rushdie wrote the sentence, probably some time in 1987, in The Satanic Verses, “Now there was no demand for satires — the general fear of Mahound had destroyed the market… View Post
View Post 10 min Features Remembering Charlie Hebdo (and Defending Offensive Jokes) Posted on January 7, 2017January 7, 20185 commentsbyMalhar Mali Two years ago, two gunmen entered the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical magazine known for unashamedly lampooning religions, politicians, and famous figures, and demanded, “Where is Charb? Where is… View Post