Suchergebnisse

AbstractThe liberal justification for censorship equates the harm in hate speech with the sort of tangible injury that would justify state intervention under J.S. Mill's harm principle. Recently, Jeremy Waldron has suggested that the real harm perpetuated by hate speech is less tangible, taking it to be a variety of moral pollution which undermines both the public good of inclusiveness and the minority's assurance of personal dignity. This paper scrutinizes Waldron's conception of the harm in hate speech, arguing that it lacks the specificity and gravity Mill's principle requires in order to justify censorship. The paper also questions the categorical distinction between hate speech and speech that is "merely offensive," arguing that Waldron's reasons for censoring the one also apply to the other. The result is a censorship regime that liberals ought not to accept.

The Essential Thomas Jefferson, Jean M. Yarbrough, ed.,
Indianapolis and Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2006, pp.
xxxvii, 287.This is a useful collection of Jefferson's political writings
well suited to undergraduate and graduate courses in political theory and
especially in American political thought. There are twelve public papers
and addresses (including "A Summary View of the Rights of British
America" and, of course, the Declaration of Independence, excerpts
from the "Notes on Virginia," and 44 letters to various
correspondents. This compares favourably with an older and larger
anthology edited by the distinguished Jefferson scholar Merrill Peterson
(The Portable Thomas Jefferson, New York: Viking, 1975), which
features roughly the same number of public papers and addresses but also
contains the "Notes on Virginia" in its entirety and some 75
letters. While the Peterson volume is more inclusive, Yarbrough's
decision to excerpt the "Notes" is understandable, given how
few chapters bear directly on political questions, and the selected
correspondence provides an ample survey of Jefferson's views on a
variety of topics.

Toleration as Recognition, Anna Elisabetta Galeotti, Cambridge,
Cambridge University Press, 2002, pp. viii, 242In Toleration as Recognition Anna Elisabetta Galeotti offers
up a sympathetic critique of liberal toleration and suggests a
modification to the theory that she believes necessary in order to bring
cultural minorities into the public sphere as equal citizens. This
carefully argued book marks a timely contribution to the debate over group
rights and multiculturalism.

Describes the surprising tax reform plan offered by the Republican governor of AL, Bob Riley, & evaluates the legitimacy of its basis in Christian ethics. Though defeated, Riley's Campaign for Tax Justice highlights a growing trend in contemporary liberal political theory. The ramifications of this movement are explored, drawing on John Rawls's notion that political discourse should consist of appeals to "public reason" rather than religious or moral doctrines. Differences between private & public reason are addressed, & secular/religious arguments are evaluated. K. Hyatt Stewart

In a book published almost a decade ago, Ronald Beiner complained that contemporary liberalism suffers for its neglect of the Big Questions traditionally addressed by political philosophy. Preoccupied with narrowly conceived and highly formal questions of (procedural) justice, liberalism had no advice to give about how one should live. (See Ronald Beiner, What's the Matter with Liberalism, 1992.) John Tomasi's provocative new book takes this complaint seriously and attempts to remedy the defect in contemporary liberalism by moving it "beyond justice" to address the normative concerns of persons earnestly striving to lead good and worthwhile lives.