The Harm in Hate Speech - Rilegato

Waldron, Jeremy

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 0674065891 ISBN 13: 9780674065895

Casa editrice: Harvard Univ Pr, 2012

Riassunto

Every liberal democracy has laws or codes against hate speech—except the United States. For constitutionalists, regulation of hate speech violates the First Amendment and damages a free society. Against this absolutist view, Jeremy Waldron argues powerfully that hate speech should be regulated as part of our commitment to human dignity and to inclusion and respect for members of vulnerable minorities.

Causing offense—by depicting a religious leader as a terrorist in a newspaper cartoon, for example—is not the same as launching a libelous attack on a group’s dignity, according to Waldron, and it lies outside the reach of law. But defamation of a minority group, through hate speech, undermines a public good that can and should be protected: the basic assurance of inclusion in society for all members. A social environment polluted by anti-gay leaflets, Nazi banners, and burning crosses sends an implicit message to the targets of such hatred: your security is uncertain and you can expect to face humiliation and discrimination when you leave your home.

Free-speech advocates boast of despising what racists say but defending to the death their right to say it. Waldron finds this emphasis on intellectual resilience misguided and points instead to the threat hate speech poses to the lives, dignity, and reputations of minority members. Finding support for his view among philosophers of the Enlightenment, Waldron asks us to move beyond knee-jerk American exceptionalism in our debates over the serious consequences of hateful speech.

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Recensione:

"A vigorously argued, intelligent challenge to the "liberal bravado" of U.S. First Amendment scholars. In an eloquent reply to free-speech advocates, Waldron moves step by step in building the argument as to why hate-speech laws are good for a well-ordered society...The author argues that the damage caused by hate speech is like an "environmental threat to social peace, a sort of slow-acting poison" that robs the intended victims of their dignity and reputation in society. Waldron's analogy between hate speech and pornography--in terms of the defamation of women--is particularly noteworthy. He responds carefully to the notion of free speech as a necessary part of democracy's "marketplace of ideas" and looks to the Enlightenment philosophes for their views on toleration and defamation."-- Kirkus Reviews, 15th April 2012

" [Waldron's] book sheds light on a number of difficult issues, and occasionally exposes the difference between historical fact and fiction...He elegantly and convincingly advocates that our leaders should not only avoid the use of hate speech themselves, but also condemn its use by others...We should all do our best to preserve President Ford's conception of America as a place where we can disagree without being disagreeable. An understanding of the arguments in Waldron's book may help us to do so." --John Paul Stevens, New York Review of Books, 7th July 2012

"This is a wonderful book. It conveys complex ideas in an accessible and convincing way...Jeremy Waldron has put together a clear and compelling rationale for hate-speech laws - the harm that it causes to human dignity..." --Katherine Gelber, Times Higher Education, Thursday 31st May 2012

This is a wonderful book. It conveys complex ideas in an accessible and convincing way... ...Jeremy Waldron has put together a clear and compelling rationale for hate-speech laws - the harm that it causes to human dignity... --Katherine Gelber, Times Higher Education, Thursday 31st May 2012

Waldron admirably tried to keep in mind how speech regimes work in practice. --Glen Newey, London Review of Books, 5 December 2013

Waldron admirably tried to keep in mind how speech regimes work in practice. --Glen Newey, London Review of Books, 5 December 2013

L'autore:

Jeremy Waldron is Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory at Oxford University.

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Harvard Univ Pr
• Data di pubblicazione: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0674065891
• ISBN 13: 9780674065895
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero di pagine: 292