What are the Moral Limits of Free Speech and Action?

[Philosophy Now]

Each answer below receives a book. Apologies to the many entrants not included.

https://philosophynow.org/issues/127/What_are_the_Moral_Limits_of_Free_Speech_and_Action

[attofishpi]

Fuck giving a shit about peoples ill considered inadequacies


Israel Folau is to be sacked by Rugby Australia following a post the player made on his Instagram account. RA released a statement on Thursday saying 'whilst Israel is entitled to his religious beliefs, the way in which he has expressed these beliefs is inconsistent with the values of the sport’. This is the second time the player has come under fire for homophobic comments he made on social media.

--- Apparently Israel stated that among others, atheists and gays will go to hell (for being of that persuasion)

Nothing hateful here. Just a bloke speaking his mind about his beliefs. I wonder whether if he made no mention of 'gays' whether he would have suffered the same vitriol for stating that 'mere' atheists would got to hell. --- fuck no!

Unless of course you are a homosexual atheist - -- then apparently it matters! - ridiculous to the extreme.

This day and age - one cannot express their own feelings\opinions for fear of upsetting someone!

I grew up with a big nose and had the piss taken out of me almost daily - where and when will that cause someone to lose their career for mocking people with big noses?

The current media is a hypocrite of mammoth proportions - ...oh poor mammoths...(fat people be offended and deal with it)

[FionaD]

I am from Christchurch, NZ, where we had the terrible massacre on March the 15th.
I was in Germany visiting a university when that terrible thing happened to my country, my city, and my friends, my students.... and a professor of moral philosophy there in Germany told me I was overreacting to the news as it was, after all, only 40 people. So maybe philosophers are not the people to be discussing this.
I guess as a vet I would say the moral limits are of empathy and understanding, equality and consent. If you do not understand and truly love a cat or a dog, or even a member of the lesser species ( vet word for human) maybe you do not have the moral authority to make calls about doing or saying things to harm them. I think my beloved Kant would buy into my idea of just and unjust harms, so a proportionate response. Like white rich colonialist men in NZ saying bad things about women or Māori, very bad. Māori women dissing white racist men for being sexist, totally acceptable.

Perhaps our moral authority to do harm should only extend to those who are our equals in the infliction of harm. So it is power dependent. "Free speech" from a nasty manipulative boss who pays you and is your only referee, is so not the same as "free speech" by me about him.

Although I could of course now write an article for Philosophy Now about that so bad person and immortalize him! Coastal suburb in Christchurch, I have really off email content..could be so good.

[-1-]

I am from Christchurch, NZ, where we had the terrible massacre on March the 15th.
I was in Germany visiting a university when that terrible thing happened to my country, my city, and my friends, my students.... and a professor of moral philosophy there in Germany told me I was overreacting to the news as it was, after all, only 40 people. So maybe philosophers are not the people to be discussing this.
I guess as a vet I would say the moral limits are of empathy and understanding, equality and consent. If you do not understand and truly love a cat or a dog, or even a member of the lesser species ( vet word for human) maybe you do not have the moral authority to make calls about doing or saying things to harm them. I think my beloved Kant would buy into my idea of just and unjust harms, so a proportionate response. Like white rich colonialist men in NZ saying bad things about women or Māori, very bad. Māori women dissing white racist men for being sexist, totally acceptable.

Perhaps our moral authority to do harm should only extend to those who are our equals in the infliction of harm. So it is power dependent. "Free speech" from a nasty manipulative boss who pays you and is your only referee, is so not the same as "free speech" by me about him.

Although I could of course now write an article for Philosophy Now about that so bad person and immortalize him! Coastal suburb in Christchurch, I have really off email content..could be so good.

How do you establish or measure equality? What metrics would you use?

We are all unique. We are all different. How can we be equal then?

[henry quirk]

Don't lie about the other guy.

Don't lay hands on the other guy (first).

That about sums it up.

[-1-]

Don't lie about the other guy.

Don't lay hands on the other guy (first).

That about sums it up.

Ah. So that's what equality is.

Thanks for a thoroughly stupid and nonsensical answer.

You are right. Why do we even try at this goddamned fucking site? The theists and the schizophrenics destroyed it thoroughly... not to mention the theist schizophrenics.

[henry quirk]

"Ah. So that's what equality is."

Nope. It's the moral limits of free speech and action, in a nutshell.

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"Thanks for a thoroughly stupid and nonsensical answer."

凸(-_-)凸

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"You are right."

Yes, I am.