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Free Speech: A Very Short Introduction

Nigel Warburton

26 February 2009

ISBN: 9780199232352

128 pages
Paperback
174x111mm

In Stock

Very Short Introductions

Price: £8.99

How important is free speech? Should it be defended at any cost? Or should we set limits on what can and cannot be said? This Very Short Introduction offers a lively and thought-provoking guide to these questions, exploring both the traditional philosophical arguments as well as the practical issues and controversies facing society today.

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How important is free speech? Should it be defended at any cost? Or should we set limits on what can and cannot be said? This Very Short Introduction offers a lively and thought-provoking guide to these questions, exploring both the traditional philosophical arguments as well as the practical issues and controversies facing society today.

  • An accessible and up-to-date examination of the principal arguments both for and against our right to maintain free speech
  • Looks at controversial issues ranging from Holocaust denial and pornography, to the status of modern copyright law
  • Relates philosophical arguments to present-day case studies, and combines traditional areas of discussion, such as J. S. Mill's arguments in On Liberty, with new applications and challenges to free speech, such as digital technology and the Internet

About the Author(s)

Nigel Warburton, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, The Open University

Table of Contents

    1:Free Speech
    2:A Free Market in Ideas?
    3:Giving and Taking Offence
    4:Censoring Pornography
    5:Free Speech in the Age of the Internet
    6:Conclusion: The Future of Free Speech

Reviews

"The genius of Nigel Warburton's Free Speech lies not only in its extraordinary clarity and incisiveness. Just as important is the way Warburton addresses freedom of speech - and attempts to stifle it - as an issue for the 21st century. More than ever, we need this book." - Denis Dutton, University of Canterbury, New Zealand

"Crisp, clear and astute, this is a thought-provoking introduction to one of the most hotly contested questions of our time." - Lisa Appignanesi, President English PEN

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