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by aragonite 994 days ago
> among no other good or obvious options

It seems to me that there's an obvious alternative option. After all, if the reason we find the idea of free speech intuitively appealing is because we subscribe to some version of "speech can do no harm", why not just base everything upon the more fundamental harm principle ("one is free to V as long as V-ing causes no harm to others") which covers both the cases of speech and of act?

2 comments

It's impossible to act in a world of limited resources without "harming" other people. The division between speech and action is practical under the circumstances.
What is "harm"? Please provide a clear definition that can be universally applied to everyone everywhere.