Free Speech and Why It Matters: Why It Matters

Equally brilliant and concise. A book I will recommend to family and friends who both do and do not seem the grasp the dangers of modern censorship.

...and we could use more like him! He’s a shining light in the darkness and the voice of reason in an increasingly polarized and zany world. He’s also very witty and clever. And brave.In this concise little book, Doyle makes some excellent points about free speech and why we need to be vigilant about protecting it. We should not take free speech for granted, as Doyle reminds us. In fact, over the course of human history, it has been quite rare for people to be able to express themselves freely without draconian repercussions. No one in modern Western societies loses their head (literally) if they offend the powers that be – not anymore, that is. We are in fact living in a golden age of free speech, and hopefully will continue to do so.Doyle comes from a fairly traditional leftist background, so it would be highly disingenuous to claim that he’s siding with despicable figures (Nazis, racists, etc.) when he defends everyone’s right to free speech. He’s not defending what admittedly horrible people have to say; no, he’s merely standing up for an open society in which everyone – even horrible people – are free to voice their thoughts and ideas and opinions. Doyle points out that by defending the right of our political adversaries to enjoy free speech, we also defend our own right to free speech. It’s hard work, yes, but it’s worth it, he argues. Hence, instead of shutting down all discussion that may make us feel uncomfortable, we should work harder to combat ideas that we abhor by striving to engage in an open and civilized debate.But isn’t all of this being terribly simplistic and naive? We can’t just eat up everything that political operatives are feeding us!!True, true. But Doyle says that it’s only through the free exchange of ideas that we can make any real progress as a society (and he points to numerous historical examples of this in his book). He also says that by upholding free speech, even if what we hear is cringe-worthy to the extreme, we are embracing a society that is far more preferable to life in a world in which the Offended (which presumably will include all of us at one time or another) immediately resort to calling in the Thought Police to investigate people for committing “non-crime hate incidents” and other Orwellian phenomena.We live in interesting times, no doubt about it, and we need people like Andrew Doyle to remind us of what sanity is all about.

I was impressed of how short the book was (for such a subject and all the examples that could have been used), but I found myself thankful for that same reason.The book is very quotable and I could not stop making notes ; and for such a small book, I was impressed of how many notes the author included (literally half of the book are notes that you can consult).Another great surprise was the Immersion Reading experience (when you have both the audiobook and the e-book). Nearly all the book is identical to the audible one, which I very much appreciate.My only complain is that the book ends somewhat abruptly (honestly, I was expecting the next character) and is on the short side, but this latter "defect" make it enjoyable and easy to consult on a whim.

Although being rather short the book gives the reader a good overview of the subject as well as convincing arguments. It could easily be read and discussed within classrooms although one has doubts about todays teachers being able to handle the subject of “Free speech and why it matters” reasonably.

Doyle explores the diminishment of the right of free speech in many liberal Western democracies. He approaches the subject both from a historical perspective as well as by examining current events, and makes a strong case for protecting this foundational liberal value.

Short and sweet. packed with great info. and reasoned assertions.

As he writes:“History does not look fondly on the hubris of those who, like Galileo’s inquisitors, appoint themselves as arbiters of permissible speech and thought. Their authority is only ever contingent on the wisdom of their time. Today’s free speech sceptics are characterised by a similar tendency to mistake self-satisfaction for infallibility. If nothing else, the story of Galileo is a potent reminder of the importance of freedom of speech, and how none of us can ever be sure which heresies of today will become the certainties of tomorrow.I start from the proposition that free speech is nothing less than the keystone of our civilisation”

An attempt to remind people about the importance of the freedom of speech, made alongside Mill‘s arguments, but with neologisms. It also starts from the assumption that humans are by default rational and discards altogether the question of group dynamics, which is defeating. But it has good bibliography and the books and articles named there can help cast a better light on some of the debates of the last decade.

Helps formulate the argument against the emperor's new clothes

Tão logo recebi o livro, notei que a capa personalizada (com título, nome do autor etc.) não estava colada... Soltou-se e fiquei apenas com um livro capa dura, de baixíssima qualidade, com frente e verso inteiramente brancas.

Sehr gutes Buch, nur zu empfehlen. Die Bedeutung freier Meinungsäußerung können wir uns kaum klar machen hierzulande, hatten wir doch bis vor wenigen Jahren große Freiheiten. Jetzt, wo dieses Errungenschaft ernsthaft in Gefahr ist, ist es wichtiger denn je, für sie einzustehen und sich zu engagieren.

Il tema è svolto scolasticamente. Peccato che ben presto l’autore dichiara che dal diritto alla libertà di parola sono comunque da escludere “fascisti” e “razzisti”. Le lettura di “liberal fascism” di Jonah Goldberg è vivamente consigliata.

Short, focused, passionate defence of free speech. Andrew Doyle is erudite and articulate; in this brilliant book he denounces "cancel culture" and authoritarian "wokeness", pushing the state into freedom-limiting legislations.This is affecting not only the digital space, but also the jobs and livelihoods of whoever does not follow the established narrative.Anyway, Doyle does not go down the rabbit hole of describing in detail the postmodernist origins of all of this, but through a series of inspiring historical anecdotes and balanced dialectics, he makes the case against hate speech laws, compelled speech and so on.Very informed and informative. I really really loved it!