On December 15, 1791, Congress adopted the freedom of speech as a constitutional right under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution as a law to protect all American citizens. The law clearly states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances” (www.law.cornell.edu). Although this law is in effect, there are exceptions to policy and many other categories that are excluded from the freedom, in which the government may enact within a reasonable amount of time, place or manner restrictions on speech. According to the famous speech written by Raphael Cohen-Almagor, it states that freedom of speech is a guiding rule, one of the foundations of democracy, but at the same time, freedom does not imply anarchy, and the right to exercise free expression does not include the right to do unjustified harm to others. Freedom of expression is also known as an American form of human rights that is intertwined directly to the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution as well. This freedom was granted as the first written constitution of the democratic government for the United States. However, the freedom of expression was characterized by the United States Supreme Court as a fundamental right to grant liberty and to sustain to any principles within existence. There are many supporting elements associated with the freedom of expression. For example, the freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of association and the freedom of the press are all connected by United States... ... middle of paper ... ... should be obligated to follow these principles and ethical norms provided by law. Works Cited Beauchamp, T. L.(2003). A Defense of the Common Morality. Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 13(3), 259-274. Beauchamp, T. L. "Affirmative Action." International Encyclopedia of Ethics (online). Ed. Hugh LaFollette. : Wiley-Blackwell, 2011. Dworkin, R., “Liberalism,” in Public and Private Morality, ed. S. Hampshire (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1978), 127. Feinberg, J. “The Idea of a Free Man,” in Education and the Development of Reason, 161. Rawls, J. “Construction and Objectivity”, Journal of Philosophy78 (September 1980), 554. http://philosophyfaculty.ucsd.edu/faculty/rarneson/courses/SCANLONfreeexpression.pdf http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/first_amendment http://www.notable-quotes.com/f/freedom_of_speech_quotes.html#CYU4CklVvUSS3IRQ.99
Principles of Morality. Seattle: Ponster Printing, pp. 89-92. 2010. Print. The. Gevinson, Matilda.
Nye, Howard. PHIL 250 B1, Winter Term 2014 Lecture Notes – Ethics. University of Alberta.
The first Amendment of the United States Constitution says; “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”[1] Our fore fathers felt that this statement was plain enough for all to understand, however quite often the United States government deems it necessary to make laws to better define those rights that are stated in the Constitution. Today the framers would be both encouraged and discouraged by our modern interpretation the First Amendment the United States Constitution.
Freedom of speech has been a controversial issue throughout the world. Our ability to say whatever we want is very important to us as individuals and communities. Although freedom of speech and expression may sometimes be offensive to other people, it is still everyone’s right to express his/her opinion under the American constitution which states that “congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or the press”. Although this amendment gave people the right express thier opinions, it still rests in one’s own hands as how far they will go to exercise that right of freedom of speech.
One key to the first amendment of the United states constitution is the right to free speech. Freedom of speech is what separates America than other countries around the world that forbid freedom of speech rights. Freedom of speech has been in our constitution since the year 1791. When James Madison “the father of the constitution” wrote the bill of rights he saw potential and that it would make the country more freedom filled than other countries. The land of the free is what the United States is nicknamed and it 's because of our rights to express ourselves as freely as we desire.
Ethics: The Big Questions , edit ed by James P. Sterba, 259 -275. Malden, Massachusets: Blackwel Publishers Ltd, 1998.
Morgan, Michael L., ed. Classics of Moral and Political Theory. 3rd Edition. Indianapolis. Hackett, 2001.
After the Revolutionary War in America, many states recommend that free speech be put in the United States Constitution. Nevertheless, freedom of speech was written into the Bill of Rights and was ratified in 1791. A few years after the First Amendment was ratified, the government passed the Sedition Act of 1798. This was to help prevent resistance or rebellion against the government. It also made it illegal to print, write or say “any false, scandalous and malicious” things against the government.
Stanley Fish states in his essay “The Free-Speech Follies”, “The modern American version of crying wolf is crying First Amendment” (496). The First Amendment is made up of five basic freedoms given to the United States citizens that consist of freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to hold a peaceful protest, freedom of press, and the right to protest. Within the Constitution there are no words that state the rights include for society to speak rudely to, or about, others. The article “Freedom of Speech” explains, “Slander consists of orally making and libel consists of publishing false statements that are damaging to the reputation of another” (1). People are allowed to have their own beliefs and opinions; however, they should not
Hume, David. An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals, trans. Schneewind, Indianapolis: Hackett, 1982, 72.
All people in the United States are guaranteed this right by the Constitution. Students, however, do not have this right to the same extent as adults. This is because public schools are required to protect all students at the school. The major aspects of this right are speech and dress. Both the right to speech and dress are not absolute in public high schools. According to the American Civil Liberties Union: "You (students) have a right to express your opinions as long as you do so in a way that doesn't 'materially and substantially' dirsupt classes or other school activities. If you hold a protest on the school steps and block the entrance to the building, school officials can stop you. They can probably also stop you from using language they think is 'vulgar or indecent'("Ask Sybil Libert" ACLU 1998). Public schools can also restrict student dress. In 1987 in Harper v. Edgewood Board of Education the court upheld "a dress regulation that required students to 'dress in conformity wit hthe accepted standards of the community'"(Whalen 72). This means that schools can restrict clothing with vulgarities and such, but they cannot restrict religious clothing: "School officials must accomodate student's religious beliefs by permitting the wearing of religious clothing when such clothing must be worn during the school day as a part of the student's religious practice"(Whalen 78).
John Stuart Mill, Patrick Devlin, H.L.A Hart, and Ronald Dworkin each provide varying views on what constitutes morality and what the role of society/the law should be in protecting morality. The discussion of these four philosophers provides insight into this debate, as each philosopher provides a different perspective. For example, Mill being a utilitarian gives him a unique view. I will discuss Mill, Devlin, Hart, and Dworkin and compare their views in order to gain a better understanding of what constitutes morality and how far should society and the law be permitted to interact with morality.
Lukes, S. (2010). The Social Construction of Morality. In S. Hitlin, S. Vaisey (Ed.), Handbook of the Sociology of Morality (pp. 549-560). New York, NY: Springer.
Freedom of Speech has been long debated in our country. In two articles “Tinker v. Des Moines Case Study” and the” Here Is Why It’s Time To Get Tough On hate Speech In America” present a few very compelling points on this topic. Freedom of Speech in America has been over thought and over analyzed. Our freedom should be a loud, but such places as private businesses and schools should have guidelines, if they wish, which clearly states what is appropriate.
First and foremost, in the United States the freedom of expression is guaranteed in the first Article of Amendment to the American Constitution. It states, "Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech, or the press..." This is significant beyond its mere primacy in the U.S. Bill of Rights. It does not establish the freedom of expression, but rather, in recognizing its existence, guarantees it. Freedom of expression has been a part of the American way since long before the American Revolution. Alexis de Toqueville, on touring the United States over 150 years ago recognized this, writing in _Democracy in America, "The Anglo-Americans have enjoyed this liberty ever since the foundation of the Colonies..." Americans have always felt free to express their opinion.