THIRD LEG OF THE STOOL:

Enduring Interest is very pleased to launch our series on speech and censorship with this conversation on Jonathan Rauch's Kindly Inquisitors, first published in 1993 and reissued in 2013 with a new afterword. We discuss Jonathan's conception of "liberal science," or the liberal intellectual system's approach to sorting truth from falsehood. He suggests this is arguably liberalism's greatest achievement yet seems always under attack from a variety of quarters. We discuss the fundamentalist and humanitarian threats to free speech, focusing most of our attention on the latter. Can speech cause harm? If yes, why should one not limit it? We compare and contrast the threats to free speech as Jonathan saw them back in 1993 with the situation today. We conclude with Jonathan's recommendations for books and essays that make the case for free speech.

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