L7: Democracy, Informed Citizens, and The Free Press Flashcards
explain views of freedom for mills and rawls
o For Mill- explicit- freedom fundamental right
o For Rawls- implicitly in the ‘lexical priority’ he gives to political rights
what are the three elements of free speech
- The right to seek information and ideas (e.g. freedom of information laws)
- The right to receive information and ideas (e.g. non-censorship)
- The right to impart information and ideas
what are the three functions of the combined three elements of free speech
- maximise degree to which citizens are informed
o Serve generic educational functions
o Enhance accountability of state (critical for liberal democrats)
does education make us more liberal
• confirm education levels are correlated with:
o more liberal (individualistic) social attitude and
o more liberal (capitalists) economic attitudes
what sort of limitation of free speech does liberal accept
that cause harm
explain the relationship b.w lockes maxim of life liberty and property, and freedom
o Even with narrow definition of harm, we can still justify limiting free speech insofar as it impacts property- slander and libel (causes financial loss)
for liberals, lying or slander isn’t an issue of free speech , but what is?
if they cause harm
what are the two lines of arguments for disallowing porn
- immoral
2, encouraging abusive behaviour + derogatory view of women of their status in society
which of the two porn arguments persuade a liberal
- not 1, as no harm
- 2 might, argue that harm to social position
free speech in a democratic society implies what kind of media
free media
why might free media not exist and their relation to the faces of power
- Media concentration v. media plurality
- – media concentration can certainly affect what ‘gets out there’ (second face) and may also be able to influence social attitudes (third face)
