Freedom of Expression

That there are rights to which people are entitled by virtue of their humanity is not a novel idea. The statement in italic above surely has been presented throughout history as an archetype of this concept, specifically noting freedom of expression as a right to which all hold possession. The assertion of this right is well represented in the Unites States Bill of Rights. Within that document the First Amendment specifically restricts governmental powers prohibiting any such law or act from abbreviating our freedom of speech . This keystone to the American Democratic System spawns dialogue and discourse which forms policy, law, procedure, and so on. I truly believe that the aforementioned claim is accurate; everyone has the right to freedom of expression. I would also argue that this right exists conditionally to the extent it doesn’t interfere with the same right for others. There are deeper concepts nested within the aforementioned statement and it is the purpose of this narrative to elucidate those ideas in order to support my interpretation of its claim.

Specifically enumerated, I feel there are five ideas that warrant exploration. The first is the role of the agent within this claim. “Everyone” is truly a large population and as a term is a rather ambiguously defined population. It is natural to define the agent within the population of “everyone” as the individual. By this characterization the claim transforms into: “the individual has the right to freedom of expression.” On the other hand if we understand everyone to include various subpopulations of “everyone,” and not just individuals, then organizations or companies could also claim the right to freedom of expression.

To illustrate, consider the long standin...

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... stated, When people act and speak freely they must realize that their actions ripple and effect others and their rights .

In my assessment, everyone has the right to free expression. However that right is conditional to the protection of that right for other people. Benjamin Franklin is famously credited with saying that “the right for you to swing your fist ends at the tip of my nose.” Any population defined as an agent has the right but also the responsibilities that come with it because free expression, as Mill says, is vital to our well being. We as individuals do not live in a vacuum we must recognize that the right for us to protect our well being and expression is conditionally linked to others. We must recognize ourselves in other people and we have the reasonability to respect others right to expression as we exercise our own right to free expression.