Mick Hume - Trigger Warning - Is the Fear of Being Offensive Killing Free Speech?

Contents Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication Epigraph Introduction to the concise edition 1 A few things we forgot about free speech 2 The age of the reverse-Voltaires 3 A short history of free-speech heretics Five good excuses for restricting free speech – and why they’re all wrong 4 ‘… but words will always hurt me’ 5 ‘There is no right to shout “Fire!” in a crowded theatre’ 6 ‘Mind your Ps, Qs, Ns and Ys’ 7 ‘Free speech is just a licence for the mass media to brainwash the public’ 8 ‘Liars and Holocaust deniers do not deserve to be heard’ The fear of free speech Appendix: The Trigger Warnings we need Notes About the Publisher

William Collins

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.WilliamCollinsBooks.com

This abridged eBook first published in Great Britain by William Collins in 2016

Copyright © Mick Hume 2015

Mick Hume asserts the moral right to

be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record of this book is

available from the British Library

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780008126407

Ebook Edition © May 2016 ISBN: 9780008204389

Version: 2016-04-26

For Stella and Isabel, may they always think what they like and say what they think

Cover

Title Page Contents Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication Epigraph Introduction to the concise edition 1 A few things we forgot about free speech 2 The age of the reverse-Voltaires 3 A short history of free-speech heretics Five good excuses for restricting free speech – and why they’re all wrong 4 ‘… but words will always hurt me’ 5 ‘There is no right to shout “Fire!” in a crowded theatre’ 6 ‘Mind your Ps, Qs, Ns and Ys’ 7 ‘Free speech is just a licence for the mass media to brainwash the public’ 8 ‘Liars and Holocaust deniers do not deserve to be heard’ The fear of free speech Appendix: The Trigger Warnings we need Notes About the Publisher

Copyright Copyright Contents Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication Epigraph Introduction to the concise edition 1 A few things we forgot about free speech 2 The age of the reverse-Voltaires 3 A short history of free-speech heretics Five good excuses for restricting free speech – and why they’re all wrong 4 ‘… but words will always hurt me’ 5 ‘There is no right to shout “Fire!” in a crowded theatre’ 6 ‘Mind your Ps, Qs, Ns and Ys’ 7 ‘Free speech is just a licence for the mass media to brainwash the public’ 8 ‘Liars and Holocaust deniers do not deserve to be heard’ The fear of free speech Appendix: The Trigger Warnings we need Notes About the Publisher William Collins An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.WilliamCollinsBooks.com This abridged eBook first published in Great Britain by William Collins in 2016 Copyright © Mick Hume 2015 Mick Hume asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins. Source ISBN: 9780008126407 Ebook Edition © May 2016 ISBN: 9780008204389 Version: 2016-04-26

Dedication Dedication Contents Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication Epigraph Introduction to the concise edition 1 A few things we forgot about free speech 2 The age of the reverse-Voltaires 3 A short history of free-speech heretics Five good excuses for restricting free speech – and why they’re all wrong 4 ‘… but words will always hurt me’ 5 ‘There is no right to shout “Fire!” in a crowded theatre’ 6 ‘Mind your Ps, Qs, Ns and Ys’ 7 ‘Free speech is just a licence for the mass media to brainwash the public’ 8 ‘Liars and Holocaust deniers do not deserve to be heard’ The fear of free speech Appendix: The Trigger Warnings we need Notes About the Publisher For Stella and Isabel, may they always think what they like and say what they think

Epigraph Epigraph Trigger Warning (noun): a statement at the start of any piece of writing, video, etc, alerting the reader or viewer to the fact that it contains material they might find upsetting or offensive.

Introduction to the concise edition

1 A few things we forgot about free speech

2 The age of the reverse-Voltaires

3 A short history of free-speech heretics

Five good excuses for restricting free speech – and why they’re all wrong

4 ‘… but words will always hurt me’

5 ‘There is no right to shout “Fire!” in a crowded theatre’

6 ‘Mind your Ps, Qs, Ns and Ys’

7 ‘Free speech is just a licence for the mass media to brainwash the public’

8 ‘Liars and Holocaust deniers do not deserve to be heard’

The fear of free speech

Appendix: The Trigger Warnings we need

Notes

About the Publisher

Trigger Warning (noun): a statement at the start of any piece of writing, video, etc, alerting the reader or viewer to the fact that it contains material they might find upsetting or offensive.

Free speech is under threat in the West. But then, what else is new? Freedom of expression has never been assured, even in its heartlands, ever since the ancient Athenians took a democratic vote to put to death their greatest philosopher, Socrates, for talking out of turn.