Ethics: Freedom Of Speech

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We, as human beings, cannot live without following some rules or guidelines in our lives so that we could be able to act in any situation. Ethics, a set of moral beliefs and principles, is one of the main guidelines that should be followed in life so that we would be able to know the difference between right/wrong and good/bad. The term ‘ethics’ is related to morality because it defines whether an action is considered moral or immoral. It was firstly discussed by Socrates, in one of Plato’s dialogues, by which he argued that a wise person would act based on knowing the right action that is good for him/her, while bad actions can only be done because of ignorance. Unfortunately, in some cases, is very controversial to differentiate between a …show more content…

This means that freedom of speech must be restricted in some situations. For example, why isn’t street harassment considered a freedom of speech when a stranger in a street is harassing a woman verbally? If people argue that freedom of speech shouldn’t be restricted then why is harassment considered a criminal act? I think that most of the people would agree that freedom of speech should only promote liberty to human beings, while it should never offence or harm anyone. Although, when it comes to Islam and Muslims, the Western media always attacks them without any true justifications. Unfortunately, the term ‘freedom of speech’ became much more important that morality, ethics, and truth. I believe that the Western philosophers who were arguing for the freedom of speech would never accept the behavior of the Danish cartoonists because it was an immoral act that was based on lies and violations. On the other hand, I would never say that anyone has the right to criticize Islam, but only in a respectful and a well mannered way as said by Prophet Muhammad who respected freedom of speech. I believe in the dependency theory that states that morality depends upon God for its existence, that’s why it is immoral, as God would never consider these behaviors moral. Moreover, I think that they actually hate Islam and Muslims so they falsely justify their immoral actions by these harmful

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