George Orwell on Free Speech
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This paper draws two themes from Orwell’s writing on free speech. The first is that free speech is valuable because speech has the power to motivate political action. I develop an argument, building on resources drawn from Orwell, that allowing free speech is likely to produce good political action. The second (which I develop by connecting Orwell’s view with contemporary writing on hermeneutical injustice) is that free speech requires adequate conceptual and linguistic resources, and hence that free speech can be significantly limited by depriving people of conceptual and linguistic resources.
Source: The Monist
Author: Derek Ball
Institution: University of St Andrews
Language: English
Topic: Law, Rights, and Freedoms
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,036
OpenAlex ID: W7126170202