Marketplace of Ideas

950 Words2 Pages

The first thing that I want to do before I start my research paper is to define what the marketplace of ideas is. It is a basis of freedom of expression based on the principle of theory of the free market in economics. The marketplace of ideas concept believes that the truth will come out from an open and public forum. It often pertains to freedom of speech and of the press and the responsibilities of different types of media in politics. It also pertains to free trade of ideas. According to conservipedia.com, the marketplace of confronts “bad speech” with “good speech.”

On the same site, it gives an explanation of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes interpretation in Abrams v. United States, “that mere disagreement with speech is never enough to condemn it.” Holmes says:

“The best test of truth is the power of the thought to get it accepted in the competition of the market, and that truth is the only ground upon which their wishes safely can be carried out. That at any rate is the theory of our Constitution. It is an experiment, as all life is an experiment. Every year if not every day we have to wager our salvation upon some prophecy based upon imperfect knowledge. While that experiment is part of our system I think that we should be eternally vigilant against attempts to check the expression of opinions that we loathe and believe to be fraught with death, unless they so imminently threaten immediate interference with the lawful and pressing purposes of the law that an immediate check is required to save the country.”

In a case brief on Oyez.com about Abrams v. United States, Holmes said this in regards to a case where two individuals were accused of trying to stop the war efforts against Germany in Worl...

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...g the truth eventually emerge, sometimes there is not even a chance for it to become visible. The marketplace of ideas favors the powerful and the only way to have the truth emerge is to have someone, or something, with the same amount of power to let the truth out into the marketplace of ideas.

Works Cited

"ABRAMS v. UNITED STATES." Abrams v. United States. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2013. .

"Marketplace of ideas." - Conservapedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2013. .

Fernandes, Michael J. "Zechariah Chafee." Free Speech Philosophers --. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2013.

Ingber, Stanley. “The Marketplace of Ideas: Legitimizing a Myth. Scholarship.law.duke.edu. 2013. 15. Web. http://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2867&context=dlj 5 Dec 2013.

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