It is of philosophers and freedom of speech that I want to talk about. Here are two major and important philosophers: Jeremy Waldron, who had held positions at Oxford, Edinburgh, Berkeley and Columbia, and is now at the New York School of Law; and Cass Sunstein, who holds a position at Harvard Law School. Both are 70 years old. They are grand figures, oft-celebrated, well-remunerated: they are, in a word, regime philosophers. If you doubt, consider their recent work.
Cass Sunstein has written a book Liars: Falsehoods and Free Speech in an Age of Deception (Oxford University Press, 2021), and Jeremy Waldron has written an article entitled ‘Damned Lies’, Political Philosophy 1 (2024), pp. 39-71. Let me go through their pages before consigning them to the flames.
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