Intellectual Freedom and Libraries: The Public Sphere and Theories of Intellectual Freedom

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Intellectual Freedom and Libraries The Public
Sphere and Theories of Intellectual Freedom
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Review and Overview

• Review First Amendment, Limits, and ALA
• Questions?
• Overview
• Ethical Theory
• Characterizations of Intellectual Freedom
• IF Skeptics

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Quiz 2

• What is the public sphere?
• Explain the harm principle and the offense
  principle. Use an example to illustrate the
  difference.
• What is the collectivist theory of free speech?
• What does Fish mean when he says There is no
  such thing as free speech?
• What does Marcuse mean by repressive tolerance?
  Give an example.

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Ethical Theory

• Utilitarianism and Rights Theory
• Utilitarianism Weigh harms against benefits.
  Pick whatever has greater benefits over harms.
• Rights Theory Do what respects the rights of
  those involved. Weighing of harms and benefits is
  inappropriate when someones rights are at stake.

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Types of Rights

• All rights impose duties on others.
• Liberty Rights Freedoms from interference by the
  government. Free speech is understood as a
  liberty right--the government has a duty to
  refrain from interfering with my right to speak,
  write, publish, etc.
• Welfare Rights Duty of the government to supply
  some good. Some aspects of intellectual freedom
  may involve welfare rights (e.g., right to
  publicly funded libraries).

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Sources of Rights

• Choice Theories A right is a protected choice.
  We are free beings capable of making our own
  decisions and should not be interfered with
  (e.g., who to marry, whether and how to worship).
• Interest Theories A right is a protected
  interest. We are human beings with fundamental
  needs that should be respected (e.g., education,
  basic physical safety).

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Right to Intellectual Freedom

• What is intellectual freedom?
• What is it freedom to do (liberty)?
• What is it a right to be provided with (welfare)?

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Features of IF

• A right to communicate.
• A right to not receive communication.
• A right to seek out communications (and other
  information?).
• Importance of Interpretation by the receiver I
  may not receive the message you want to send via
  your communication.
• There is no one fixed meaning attached to an
  act of communication.

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Why is IF so important?

• Why should I be free to do these things,
  especially if there might be some inconvenience,
  cost, etc. to others?

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Autonomy Argument

• Information itself is morally neutral but, in
  the context of guided inquiry, it supports the
  development of personal autonomy and personal
  agency (Pierce and Alfino, 2001, 481).
• Auto (self) Nomos (law or rule) to be autonomous
  is to be capable of ruling yourself. It is
  contrasted with heteronomy or being ruled by
  another.
• In order to rule myself I must be able to (1)
  express my interests and concerns, (2) form my
  own plans, (3) have the basic information needed
  to carry out my plans.

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Collectivist Argument

• Marketplace of Ideas
• J.S. Mill If we suppress speech we may suppress
  the truth, or we will fail to understand our
  reasons for our beliefs.
• Ultimately this will also enhance autonomy by
  providing a broad range of ideas and experiments
  in living.
• Democracy Argument--Public Sphere
• Must have full access to information needed to
  make choices as a democratic citizen.
• Our society depends on the ability of the public
  to discuss, communicate, and form a shared
  perspective.
• Promotes our capacity to share in the formation
  of laws, policies, etc.

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Balancing?

• Arguments v. balancing IF against other
  interests.
• Slippery Slope Once we start trading off IF
  agaisnt other goods, where will we stop?
• MaximalismIF is so important that no other
  interest can ever be more important.
• Minimalism Speech itself never causes harm, so
  it is simply pointless to suppress it. (Books
  dont kill people, people kill people.)