Secrecy and Liberty:National Security, Freedom of Expression and Access to Information (International Studies in Human Rights)

Average customer rating:

Secrecy and Liberty:National Security, Freedom of Expression and Access to Information (International Studies in Human Rights)

Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Civics | Government | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Human Rights | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Civil Law | Administrative Law | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Law | Subjects | Books

Human Rights | Constitutional Law | Law | Subjects | Books

General | International Law | Law | Subjects | Books

International Law | Law | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 9041111913

Courting the Abyss updates the philosophy of free expression for a world that is very different from the one in which it originated. The notion that a free society should allow Klansmen, neo-Nazis, sundry extremists, and pornographers to spread their doctrines as freely as everyone else has come increasingly under fire. At the same time, in the wake of 9/11, the Right and the Left continue to wage war over the utility of an absolute vision of free speech in a time of increased national security. Courting the Abyss revisits the tangled history of free speech, finding resolutions to these debates hidden at the very roots of the liberal tradition.

A mesmerizing account of the role of public communication in the Anglo-American world, Courting the Abyss shows that liberty's earliest advocates recognized its fraternal relationship with wickedness and evil. While we understand freedom of expression to mean "anything goes," John Durham Peters asks why its advocates so often celebrate a sojourn in hell and the overcoming of suffering. He directs us to such well-known sources as the prose and poetry of John Milton and the political and philosophical theory of John Locke, Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, and Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., as well as lesser-known sources such as the theology of Paul of Tarsus. In various ways they all, he shows, envisioned an attitude of self-mastery or self-transcendence as a response to the inevitable dangers of free speech, a troubled legacy that continues to inform ruling norms about knowledge, ethical responsibility, and democracy today.

A world of gigabytes, undiminished religious passion, and relentless scientific discovery calls for a fresh account of liberty that recognizes its risk and its splendor. Instead of celebrating noxious doctrine as proof of society's robustness, Courting the Abyss invites us to rethink public communication today by looking more deeply into the unfathomable mystery of liberty and evil.

Cohen-Almagor's analysis of the paradoxes and dilemmas surrounding freedom of speech in a democratic system first came to my attention in his The Boundaries of Tolerance: The Struggle Against Kahanism in Israel. To this layman, interested in gaining a better grasp of democracy, it was an eye-opener in its portrayal of the subtle constraints on the rights held to be sacrosanct. The present volume takes the theme further - focusing on the intrinsic tensions between the allowing the media as much freedom as possible, and the need for self-defence mechanisms to protect democracy. Its discussion of the Harm Principle (constraints which apply to threats of immediate violence) and the Offence Principle (which places psychological offence on a par, morally, with physical harm) leads to a provocative examination of the limits that may be imposed on free expression. A case in point: the Skokie affair, in which the Illinois Supreme Court decision is argued to be flawed.

Another central issue is the potential conflict between (what is perceived as) good journalism, on the one hand, and objective reporting, on the other - a particularly thought-provoking theme; thus, for example, the author advances the view that morally neutral coverage of hate rhetoric, racism, genocide and terrorism may be both false and untenable. The moral implications extend to other contexts as well; e.g. in arguing for extreme caution in media coverage of suicide, in general, and in the coverage of teen suicides and celebrity suicides (most likely to be imitated), in particular.

All in all, ethical constraints on the right to know are a recurrent theme in this volume, and one that cannot fail to engage the reader interested in ongoing ethical controversies related to the media. (Suffice it to mention the debate - pursued ad nauseam - surrounding coverage of Princess Diana, both in life and in death). While the code of ethics which obtains for the media may be fairly clear in theory, enforcement is no simple matter, nor are the press councils as powerful as one may think, especially when they are in fact run by the media themselves. Cohen-Almagor's recommendations - some of them very concrete ones - for better and more ethical media are as vital as they are (hopefully) practicable.

The Appendix - describing a telephone poll (in Israel) designed to evaluate public perceptions of media coverage - is revealing: one very troubling statistic was the relatively high proportion of those who supported imposing restrictions on freedom of speech and press. The potential threat of such a mindset to the workings of democracy should not be overlooked.

Clearly, ethical considerations must be an ever-present concern of the media - the publishers, concessionaires, editors and reporters - though, as the author reiterates, regulation and constraints should, wherever possible, be self-imposed, rather than the products of legislation. Speech, Media and Ethics is an immensely readable analysis of these consideration. It should be on the Recommended Reading lists of students (law, journalism, philosophy etc.), journalists - and of anyone interested in the subtle workings of the democratic system.

In 1994, in The Boundaries of Liberty and Tolerance, Raphael Cohen-Almagor published a pioneering study of the challenge to liberal principles of toleration posed by extremist political parties in Israel. In Speech, Media, and Ethics: The Limits of Free Expression, the examination of the limits of tolerance is+AH4-+AH4- extended to embrace the problem of maintaining a free press in the face of challenges from forces that if left unrestrained would destroy the institutions of a free society. This is the classic dilemma of liberal toleration. To the extent that liberal theory can distinguish between what John Stuart Mill - the Founding Father of free speech theory - called discussion and expressive activities that go beyond discussion the classic question whether we should tolerate the intolerant has a simple+AH4-+AH4- answer. The toleration of discussion or advocacy extends to the advocacy of violent or extremist policies since ex hypothesi it extends to the advocacy or discussion (if that is what it is) of anything. But the application of that principle and the analysis of what it is that carries communicative activities beyond advocacy are complex. It is also best explored, as here, in relation to concrete instances and experiences.

Of all the dilemmas in the operation of free governments, the dilemma+AH4-+AH4- of free discussion and the delimitation of press freedom are the most intractable. In these essays Raphael Cohen-Almagor tackles the dilemma at the points where its complexities are most apparent. Political theorists, politicians, and philosophical journalists (if such there be) will have good reason to ponder what he has to say.+AH4-

The Right to Protest: The Basic ACLU Guide to Free Expression (ACLU Handbook)

Average customer rating:

The Right to Protest: The Basic ACLU Guide to Free Expression (ACLU Handbook)
Joel M. Gora , David Goldberger , Gary M. Stern , and Morton H. Halperin
Manufacturer: Southern Illinois University
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Civil Procedure | Procedures & Litigation | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Constitutional Law | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Practical Guides | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Americans have a great many legal rights that government must respect and courts will enforce. This altogether new volume sets forth the rights of those people who become involved in the vital issues of our time and seek to effect—or perhaps resist—political change by having an impact on matters of politics, government, and public concern.

Our system has fashioned a number of critical rights and opportunities for political activists and protestors. Of central importance are the freedoms of speech, press, assembly, petition, and religion safeguarded by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. This book describes those constitutional rights to free speech and explains how they sharply limit the ability of government to suppress protest and dissent. Government surveillance of political activists and the remedies that can be used to prevent such surveillance are also discussed, as in the right of citizens to learn about the affairs of government as protected by the Freedom of Information laws.

Finally, it is not only government that interferes with the right to protest; private organizations or corporations may interfere as well, and the protections provided in those situations by state or local law are spelled out.