Freedom of Expression/Traditions
Are there any philosophical or moral traditions that dispute the classification of this right as a fundamental right?
Freedom of expression is recognized in many philosophical and moral traditions as a fundamental right. Communitarianism is described as “…the idea that human identities are largely shaped by different kinds of constitutive communities (or social relations) and that this conception of human nature should inform our moral and political judgments as well as policies and institutions.” (Bell 2024). The core idea argues that communities shape our judgements and that humans have an obligation to support the communities that shaped their judgements. Since the core idea of communitarianism is that the community comes before all else, this means that basic freedoms, including freedom of expression, must be balanced against the needs and values of the community. Community cohesion is paramount to communitarianism, and in certain communities, freedom of expression could undermine social order. Some forms of expression could prove harmful to the community, so this philosophy argues that those expressions should be censored (Bell 2024).
Freedom of expression was not recognized for much of history. Freedom of expression was seen in ancient Athens, but there were philosophers that disputed it. Plato wrote in Republic against freedom of expression. Republic is a theory for a perfect city, and Plato believed that some form of censorship would be needed. Plato doesn’t disagree with freedom of expression; he believes it is a valuable tool to be used by philosophers and just men.
References:
Bell, Daniel. “Communitarianism.” In The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, edited by Edward N. Zalta and Uri Nodelman, Summer 2024. Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, 2024. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2024/entries/communitarianism/.
Glaun, Dan. “Germany’s Laws on Antisemitic Hate Speech and Holocaust Denial.”. FRONTLINE (2021). https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/germanys-laws-antisemitic-hate-speech-nazi-propaganda-holocaust-denial/.