ETH201H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Institutionalized Discrimination
Document Summary
Freedom of expression also includes the right not to speak: right to not be compelled to speak things that you do not want to. If you"re seeking to silence others, or censoring opinions you don"t agree with, then you"re assuming that your own beliefs are infallible and beyond criticism. In either case, there will be a degree of dissent on a particular view. However, if there is blind faith, those who dissent fight suppression with aggression. On the other hand, if debate and discussion is allowed, those who dissent will still be proven wrong, but will be able to fight. For this reason, the idea of debate and discussion seems to reinforce the beliefs in the views we hold true, by reminding ourselves why certain views are false. It"s not like jokes about bombs are always a problem, but you just can"t do it in the airport where it"s difficult to sort out who is joking and who is not.
