Free Speech Essay

Improved Essays
“ I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it” – S.G Tallentyre. Freedom of speech was established in the first amendment of the United States constitution in 1971 and coincided with the freedom of religion and the right to assemble. Why do we need the right to free speech? Free speech is a human right that prevents hate speech from arising thus promoting a healthy, free culture. Free speech is one of the most important freedoms and rights in the world that allow for people to be able to express their religion and political views freely furthermore creating a certain equality between different religions moreover preventing demoralization entirely. Living in a refined and complete society is solely on …show more content…
Refined and organized ideas will create an almost perfect democratic society that fits the needs of many different individuals who contributed. In chapter 2 of “On Liberty”, John Stewart Mills discusses several related arguments for protecting free speech in our society. He says, “No matter how certain someone is that they know the truth, their judgment is still fallible. Mills then goes on to state that, “a free market of ideas will increase the likelihood of achieving the best result, namely the emergence of truth and elimination error. Truth is good for us. Furthermore the process of lively debate with opinions from different sides will reinvigorate views that might otherwise be held in an unthinking way”. Mills explains that since we have the privilege to free speech, we all have the right to express our ideas therefore being able to create the most refined idea through all the debate. Mills also states that restrictions on free speech will weaken the progression and will produce invalid results. John Stewart Mills then recites a quote describing how free speech positively affects our society. He says, “Human nature is not a machine to be built after a model, but a tree, which requires to grow and develop itself on all sides” Mills argues that free speech does create the best democratic society for humanity through the fact that there are so many ideas prepared into one refined idea instead of a …show more content…
Dead dogma is opinions being heard and challenged to find out the ultimate truth. Mills believes that we should not hold our own beliefs as just a superstition. They should be living truths that we must be able to defend when being challenged. Mills then states that we should stride to preserve a situation where are ideas are always being challenged from all sides so the real truth and most refined idea of a particular topic arises. Mills says that without any opponents to challenge our own beliefs or ideas, our views will be less thriving as thinkers. This will not only be bad for us but for society as a whole due to the fact that our ideas will not be refined. Since we have the right to free speech, we are able to challenge each other’s ideas freely without being punished therefore making society more

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    Mill’s’ essay also argues that freedom of speech and diversifying opinions act as a fuel that drives social progress. Mill states, “... the only unfailing and permanent source of improvement is liberty, since by it there are as many possible independent centres of improvement as there are individuals” (Mill 65). One can gather that Mill believes that liberty is necessary for improvement and the more liberty present in individual members of society the more persons influencing change. This is an important message for our society to receive and is in accordance with our liberal democratic society. It demonstrates the importance of individuals and how their freedoms positively contribute to society because, as Mill bluntly states, without individuality…

    • 2454 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    One of the new ways to think of this problem is communitarianism. It is a political ideology that is not only critical of classical liberalism, but a better way of life for humans to live and understand the freedoms that they deserve. Freedom and justice for the individual are something that communitarianism thrives on, unlike other political ideologies. Justice for all, and the common good for all is the mantra of communitarianism. Political theory is mostly about the human condition and how we live our lives.…

    • 1287 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The common goal of all people is freedom as everyone wishes to be able to achieve what they want without the government telling them it is not right. With the evolution of human rights, it has been made clear that humans should be as equal as possible and society will function to its greatest ability when the humans live freely. This means that the government intervenes when necessary because of offensive or harmful acts (Rohlf 2016). In positive liberty, the government is there to tell you exactly what to do to not break the law, therefore remaining “free”. Clearly, freedom is a topic of great relevance to our society that has been interpreted through many different lenses.…

    • 1090 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Nevertheless, this society would be fair under Rawls because the “general will” drives it. Rawls believes that fairness comes from the consensus of the society saying what is fair. The “general will” serves as that consensus and would determine what is fair. Therefore, Rawls would consider Rousseau’s ideal society as fair because the society in its core is an extension of the beliefs of everyone…

    • 1251 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It allows for the freedom of press to keep a societies citizens well informed and educated, and let people express opinions over current issues. It also allows people to question and criticize their government freely without consequences. History has shown that dictatorships or governments always remove the right to freedom of speech from its people as a form of control. This stops people from being able to question and criticize their government, allowing them to remain in control. These governments also takes away the presses’ right to freedom of speech, keeping their citizens uneducated, and uninformed, thus leaving them complacent.…

    • 783 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It allows us to think, express and act upon what we deeply believe and people of goodwill can do to preserve and strengthen religious freedom. The full picture of religious freedom reveals a deep liberty that goes much further than the right to believe as one chooses and that extends well beyond the right to private devotion in one’s place of worship or home. Indeed, religious freedom is not merely interior and private, to be enjoyed internally in our minds and in the privacy of personal life. It also incorporates the right to act according to one’s moral beliefs and convictions. And more than the freedom to worship privately, it is the right to live one’s faith freely and in public.…

    • 1082 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Whether you’re a writer like Roger Rosenblatt discussing the right of freedom of speech but right place is key, or evaluating the root cause o censorship like writer Bryon Thompson does, we as a society are the ones who make those decisions. The ever changing society has this power. As Irving Kristol would say, the quality of life is where we determine those censorship lines will or will not be crossed. My opinion I am all for free speech, but limits on it are necessary. I think these limits are what makes us a somewhat of a civilized country.…

    • 1218 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The first amendment essential guarantees are freedom from a tyrannical government. One of the Things that makes the First Amendment super important to protect is the fact that. It enables the citizenry of the United States of America to voice their opinions to anyone willing to listen. This is beneficial because it enables the media to keep us informed even if the stories are sometimes biased (current presidential campaigns). If we didn 't have the First Amendment the United States could severely restrict all material and knowledge we receive.…

    • 937 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Perhaps the greatest freedom America can boast is it’s right to freedom of speech. From the first amendment of the Constitution (source 1), free speech has been the groundwork for our society’s development and liberties. Free speech is allows us to let our voices be heard, to criticize, to call upon change, to share ideas and information and prevent ignorance, and it is a gift that Americans are more fortunate to have then a great portion of the world. Free speech is one of the freedoms Americans protect most fiercely because without it what makes America such a great country would lead to its collapse. Free speech keeps our society informed and in check, and an uncensored system is one that can prevent large scale corruption (Source 2).…

    • 1720 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    One thing that they have assented to is the Constitution, which holds all of the United States’ rules and rights. The Constitution keeps the United States from crumbling and falling. In the Constitution, it says that we have the right to the freedom of religion, which Americans assent to. Because we assent to it, it means that we have a large number of immigrants, that want to come to the United States because we have religious freedom. We also have assented to the fact that we cannot become enslaved because the thirteenth amendment protects us from that.…

    • 1217 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays