Speech matters : on lying, morality, and the law
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Speech matters : on lying, morality, and the law
(Carl G. Hempel lecture series)
Princeton University Press, c2014
- : hardcover
- : [paperback]
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Note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
To understand one another as individuals and to fulfill the moral duties that require such understanding, we must communicate with each other. We must also maintain protected channels that render reliable communication possible, a demand that, Seana Shiffrin argues, yields a prohibition against lying and requires protection for free speech. This book makes a distinctive philosophical argument for the wrong of the lie and provides an original account of its difference from the wrong of deception. Drawing on legal as well as philosophical arguments, the book defends a series of notable claims--that you may not lie about everything to the "murderer at the door," that you have reasons to keep promises offered under duress, that lies are not protected by free speech, that police subvert their mission when they lie to suspects, and that scholars undermine their goals when they lie to research subjects. Many philosophers start to craft moral exceptions to demands for sincerity and fidelity when they confront wrongdoers, the pressures of non-ideal circumstances, or the achievement of morally substantial ends.
But Shiffrin consistently resists this sort of exceptionalism, arguing that maintaining a strong basis for trust and reliable communication through practices of sincerity, fidelity, and respecting free speech is an essential aspect of ensuring the conditions for moral progress, including our rehabilitation of and moral reconciliation with wrongdoers.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 CHAPTER ONE Lies and the Murderer Next Door 5 CHAPTER TWO Duress and Moral Progress 47 CHAPTER THREE A Thinker-Based Approach to Freedom of Speech 79 CHAPTER FOUR Lying and Freedom of Speech 116 CHAPTER FIVE Accommodation, Equality, and the Liar 157 CHAPTER SIX Sincerity and Institutional Values 182 Index 225
by "Nielsen BookData"