The Limits of Free Speech: Pornography and the Question of Coverage

Legal Theory 13 (1):41-68 (2007)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

Many liberal societies are deeply committed to freedom of speech. This commitment is so entrenched that when it seems to come into conflict with other commitments (e.g., gender equality), it is often argued that the commitment to speech must trump the other commitments. In this paper, we argue that a proper understanding of our commitment to free speech requires being clear about what should count as speech for these purposes. On the approach we defend, should get a special, technical sense, different from its ordinary sense. We offer a partial characterization of this technical sense. Finally, we argue that if certain theorists (e.g., MacKinnon) are right about what (some) pornography does, then it should fall outside the scope of the free-speech principle. If so, then contrary to first appearances, pornography may not be a case in which our commitments to freedom and gender equality come into conflict.

Other Versions

No versions found

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 101,667

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

On Racist Hate Speech and the Scope of a Free Speech Principle.Mary Kate McGowan & Ishani Maitra - 2009 - Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence 23 (2):343-372.
Speech and Harm: Controversies Over Free Speech.Ishani Maitra & Mary Kate McGowan (eds.) - 2012 - Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Is pornography “speech”?Andrew Koppelman - 2008 - Legal Theory 14 (1):71-89.
What is so special about [free] speech?DouglasN Husak - 1985 - Law and Philosophy 4 (1):1 - 15.
Silencing speech.Ishani Maitra - 2009 - Canadian Journal of Philosophy 39 (2):pp. 309-338.
Pornography, Verbal Acts, and Viewpoint Discrimination.Cynthia A. Stark - 1998 - Public Affairs Quarterly 12 (4):429-445.
The Free Speech Argument against Pornography.Caroline West - 2003 - Canadian Journal of Philosophy 33 (3):391 - 422.
A Liberal Anti-Porn Feminism?Alex Davies - 2018 - Social Theory and Practice 44 (1):21-48.

Analytics

Added to PP
2013-12-23

Downloads
186 (#131,379)

6 months
17 (#178,148)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author Profiles

Ishani Maitra
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Mary Kate McGowan
Wellesley College

Citations of this work

Silencing speech.Ishani Maitra - 2009 - Canadian Journal of Philosophy 39 (2):pp. 309-338.
Just Words: On Speech and Hidden Harm: An Overview and an Application.Mary Kate McGowan - 2021 - Australasian Philosophical Review 5 (2):129-149.
Differentiating hate speech: a systemic discrimination approach.Katharine Gelber - 2021 - Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 24 (4):393-414.
Differentiating hate speech: a systemic discrimination approach.Katharine Gelber - 2019 - Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 24 (4):1-22.

View all 16 citations / Add more citations