One of the cornerstones of my approach to navigating these fraught and destabilizing times is the near-daily habit of compiling, refining, reflecting on, and ever more fully embodying a collection of Foundational Axioms, Principles and Practices.
One of these reads, “Free speech and free thought are the only correctives to human error. Think and speak freely, and respect and defend the right of every person to do the same, especially when you disagree.”
In the wake of the Kirk assassination on September 10th, I have been dismayed—to the point of spending at least two weeks thereafter in something of a depressed stupor—by the widespread, equal-opportunity confusion and equivocation around the free speech principle.
To help myself navigate the morass, I decided to add to my Foundational Axioms, Principles and Practices a more detailed articulation of the free speech principle. I am publishing it here in hopes that it may also be helpful to others.
The broad principle of free speech consists of four fundamental freedoms1:
1) The freedom to speak — Individuals may express all ideas without coercion, interference or punishment.
2) The freedom to listen — Individuals may listen to all ideas without coercion, interference or punishment.
3) The freedom not to speak — Individuals may not be compelled to express any specific ideas or to speak against their will.
4) The freedom not to listen — Individuals may not be compelled to attend to any speech they do not wish to hear.
These freedoms do not guarantee the right to speak in every venue, the right to be heard, or the right to silence others. They establish protections from coercion, not entitlements to platforms or audiences.
Importantly, these four freedoms describe the principle of free speech, which is distinct from its legal codifications, such as the U.S. First Amendment. Laws may embody aspects of this principle, but they are not themselves the principle. The principle itself is broader than any law: it concerns the essential non-coercion of human thought and expression, whether or not governments choose to enshrine it.
“Speech,” in this context, does not include all utterances. Acts that directly violate the rights of others—such as incitement to violence, criminal conspiracy, perjury, fraud, or breaches of confidentiality—fall outside the principle.
Yet the free speech principle categorically does protect expression that is offensive, hateful, or insulting; expression widely regarded as false or misleading; and expression that challenges the interests of those in power. In other words, the principle rejects attempts to carve out categories of forbidden speech, such as “blasphemy,” “hate speech,” “misinformation,” “disinformation,” or “malinformation.” It protects all ideas, whether judged “good” or “bad,” on the grounds that history repeatedly shows such judgments cannot be made with certainty, and that effective collective sensemaking depends on the universal freedom to hear and weigh all ideas for oneself.
In defending and faithfully upholding the free speech principle, it is crucial to recognize that the true test arises precisely at the point when its defense no longer serves one’s own narrow interests. You will know you have crossed that line when you find yourself rationalizing the suppression or punishment of speech on the grounds that, “So-and-so is merely reaping the consequences of their speech,” or that, “There’s no such thing as cancel culture, just consequence culture”.2, 3
Moral courage is standing up to the people with whom you agree, on behalf of those with whom you disagree4. High-profile free speech lawyer Greg Lukianoff recently wrote, “Again and again, political actors preach the importance of free speech, only to reach for the censor’s muzzle when it helps their side. If, like me, you defend free speech as a principle rather than invoke it opportunistically, you get distressingly accustomed to seeing the same people take opposite positions on an issue, sometimes within the space of just a few months.”5 You will know that you are standing on principle when, as partisans flip and flop around you in accordance with their self-interest, you find yourself embraced one moment and rejected the next for refusing to yield this sacred ground.
1 Credit for this four-part articulation: Freedom of Speech and the Fallacy of Demanding to be Heard, Helen Pluckrose & James Lindsay
2 The Power Theory of Free Speech, Yascha Mounk
3 Politics as Self-Deception, Remi Adekoya
4 This quote, “Moral courage is standing up to the people with whom you agree, on behalf of those with whom you disagree,” is attributed to Arthur C. Brooks
5 Everyone’s a Free-Speech Hypocrite, Greg Lukianoff
Deliberative Dad 