Malik - Making Speech Rational

Making Speech Rational
(Malik Speaking)

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I'd like to add another point. Maximizing the quantity of speech is not the only goal of a liberal policy on free expression. The quality of what is expressed is important as well. What we really want to create with such a policy is a campus in which we have more speech of higher quality. Again, I think a narrow ban can help increase quality as well as quantity. Here's why:

Rational speech is of greater value than irrational speech - especially when public policy is at issue.
Racist attitudes and insults introduce an irrational factor into our debates.
A ban on racist speech will remove this irrational factor and thereby make our debates more rational.

The bottom line is that we can both enhance the value protected by a liberal policy on free expression and ban the most harmful forms of hate speech at the same time.

Reference: See Charles Lawrence III in Words that Wound. See pages 77-78.

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Making Speech Rational (Malik Speaking)

Making Speech Rational
(Malik Speaking)