William Miller, Annis‐May Timpson, and Michael Lessnoff
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198280354
- eISBN:
- 9780191599422
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198280351.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
The relationship between press freedom, individual liberty, and democracy is somewhat ambiguous. Bias, censorship, and sensational or intrusive reporting arouse special concern. A survey of broadly ...
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The relationship between press freedom, individual liberty, and democracy is somewhat ambiguous. Bias, censorship, and sensational or intrusive reporting arouse special concern. A survey of broadly conceived elite opinion in Britain shows that they trust TV and radio more than the press; educated and political elites were more committed to press freedom than the general public in matters of government secrecy; the left are far less willing to ban publication of government secrets but more willing to ban publication in matters of sensational or intrusive reporting into private lives. Elites are more intolerant than the public only towards racial or religious incitement.Less
The relationship between press freedom, individual liberty, and democracy is somewhat ambiguous. Bias, censorship, and sensational or intrusive reporting arouse special concern. A survey of broadly conceived elite opinion in Britain shows that they trust TV and radio more than the press; educated and political elites were more committed to press freedom than the general public in matters of government secrecy; the left are far less willing to ban publication of government secrets but more willing to ban publication in matters of sensational or intrusive reporting into private lives. Elites are more intolerant than the public only towards racial or religious incitement.
Gillian Brock
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199230938
- eISBN:
- 9780191710957
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199230938.003.0006
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
About 56% of the world's population does not currently enjoy adequate protection for their basic liberties. The chapter argues that various institutions play a central role in fortifying basic ...
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About 56% of the world's population does not currently enjoy adequate protection for their basic liberties. The chapter argues that various institutions play a central role in fortifying basic freedoms, such as press freedom and the architecture of international justice. The emphasis is on how we can build local capacity to protect basic freedom by supporting organizations and institutions (such as Reporters without Borders or the International Criminal Court) that can shore up local press freedom and domestic legal justice. Further defense of the value of basic liberties is offered. The chapter also shows that we can identify what basic freedoms are important to protect, we can justify why their protection is important, and we can monitor whether more or fewer people are enjoying the important freedoms.Less
About 56% of the world's population does not currently enjoy adequate protection for their basic liberties. The chapter argues that various institutions play a central role in fortifying basic freedoms, such as press freedom and the architecture of international justice. The emphasis is on how we can build local capacity to protect basic freedom by supporting organizations and institutions (such as Reporters without Borders or the International Criminal Court) that can shore up local press freedom and domestic legal justice. Further defense of the value of basic liberties is offered. The chapter also shows that we can identify what basic freedoms are important to protect, we can justify why their protection is important, and we can monitor whether more or fewer people are enjoying the important freedoms.
ERIC BARENDT
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199225811
- eISBN:
- 9780191714139
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199225811.003.0012
- Subject:
- Law, Human Rights and Immigration
This chapter examines different perspectives on the relationship of freedom of speech and freedom of the press, along with the concept of editorial freedom, arguably the central idea in any discrete ...
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This chapter examines different perspectives on the relationship of freedom of speech and freedom of the press, along with the concept of editorial freedom, arguably the central idea in any discrete right to press freedom. It looks at the legal implications of recognition of special media rights and immunities in a number of different contexts: taxation of the press, competition law, press rights of access to information, and the privilege not to disclose the sources of information. It also discusses how different legal systems resolve conflicts between the free speech and free press interests of owners, editors, and journalists. Many of these questions are as relevant to the broadcasting media as to the older print media, but the former have always been subject to a degree of special regulation that has not been countenanced for centuries in the case of newspapers and books. The chapter concludes by discussing whether this regulation is compatible with freedom of speech.Less
This chapter examines different perspectives on the relationship of freedom of speech and freedom of the press, along with the concept of editorial freedom, arguably the central idea in any discrete right to press freedom. It looks at the legal implications of recognition of special media rights and immunities in a number of different contexts: taxation of the press, competition law, press rights of access to information, and the privilege not to disclose the sources of information. It also discusses how different legal systems resolve conflicts between the free speech and free press interests of owners, editors, and journalists. Many of these questions are as relevant to the broadcasting media as to the older print media, but the former have always been subject to a degree of special regulation that has not been countenanced for centuries in the case of newspapers and books. The chapter concludes by discussing whether this regulation is compatible with freedom of speech.
Peter Rutland
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199240975
- eISBN:
- 9780191598999
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199240973.003.0012
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
Questions the extent to which post‐communist Russia has indeed become a democracy. It examines the problems of Russian democracy in different areas such as elections, separation of powers, judicial ...
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Questions the extent to which post‐communist Russia has indeed become a democracy. It examines the problems of Russian democracy in different areas such as elections, separation of powers, judicial system, freedom of press, respect for human rights, and development of civil society. It concludes that Russia has not been well served by efforts to transplant the American‐style democracy without taking into account local circumstances and conditions.Less
Questions the extent to which post‐communist Russia has indeed become a democracy. It examines the problems of Russian democracy in different areas such as elections, separation of powers, judicial system, freedom of press, respect for human rights, and development of civil society. It concludes that Russia has not been well served by efforts to transplant the American‐style democracy without taking into account local circumstances and conditions.
Matthew A. Baum and Philip B. K. Potter
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691164984
- eISBN:
- 9781400866472
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691164984.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter examines democratic constraint, democratic peace, and conflict initiation. It begins with a time-series, cross-sectional analysis of conflict initiation in all possible pairs of ...
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This chapter examines democratic constraint, democratic peace, and conflict initiation. It begins with a time-series, cross-sectional analysis of conflict initiation in all possible pairs of countries (that is, all dyads) from 1965 to 2006. This analysis reveals the interactive relationship between media access and political opposition. Across a variety of indicators of conflict, states with media and political institutions that facilitate the flow of information between leaders and the public are less prone to initiate military conflicts. These findings suggest not only an underlying mechanism that could fuel the democratic peace proposition, but also that not all democracies are likely to be equally peaceful. Aside from conflict initiation and the extent of opposition with political parties, press freedom is also measured.Less
This chapter examines democratic constraint, democratic peace, and conflict initiation. It begins with a time-series, cross-sectional analysis of conflict initiation in all possible pairs of countries (that is, all dyads) from 1965 to 2006. This analysis reveals the interactive relationship between media access and political opposition. Across a variety of indicators of conflict, states with media and political institutions that facilitate the flow of information between leaders and the public are less prone to initiate military conflicts. These findings suggest not only an underlying mechanism that could fuel the democratic peace proposition, but also that not all democracies are likely to be equally peaceful. Aside from conflict initiation and the extent of opposition with political parties, press freedom is also measured.
Jacob Rowbottom
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199548781
- eISBN:
- 9780191720673
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199548781.003.0032
- Subject:
- Law, Human Rights and Immigration
This chapter discusses the democratic justification for media freedom. The approach taken towards the media in relation to extreme speech is distinguished from that taken towards the individual. The ...
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This chapter discusses the democratic justification for media freedom. The approach taken towards the media in relation to extreme speech is distinguished from that taken towards the individual. The media may require some protection to pursue its watchdog function when reporting speech that is illegal when advocated by an individual. However, some restraints may be imposed on the media in relation to extreme speech that is legal when spoken by a citizen. This chapter has approached the issue from one particular angle: the justification of media freedom by reference to its democratic functions and how this may permit some regulations that enhance those goals.Less
This chapter discusses the democratic justification for media freedom. The approach taken towards the media in relation to extreme speech is distinguished from that taken towards the individual. The media may require some protection to pursue its watchdog function when reporting speech that is illegal when advocated by an individual. However, some restraints may be imposed on the media in relation to extreme speech that is legal when spoken by a citizen. This chapter has approached the issue from one particular angle: the justification of media freedom by reference to its democratic functions and how this may permit some regulations that enhance those goals.
Volker R. Berghahn
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780691179636
- eISBN:
- 9780691185071
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691179636.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, Social History
This chapter analyzes the broader context of the three journalists' work in Hamburg as one of several media centers in West Germany. It also explores the question of press freedom during the Cold War ...
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This chapter analyzes the broader context of the three journalists' work in Hamburg as one of several media centers in West Germany. It also explores the question of press freedom during the Cold War and of how far journalists were able to enjoy it. After all, the West German Basic Law guaranteed the freedom to write and speak, within the limits of the law, without fear of being arrested and imprisoned. The Nazi era, when these freedoms had been suppressed, was over. Yet there was another constraint: after the war the Federal Republic, having abolished Nazi regimentation of the press, adopted a capitalist economy. This meant that the ultimate freedom to publish rested with the publishers and owners of a particular paper. This is the legal background of the emergence of a free press in West Germany. Many journalists who had experienced “un-freedom” and brutal censorship during the Nazi period now found themselves in the era of the Cold War, with its new conformist pressures, which were personified by Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, for he in many ways embodied the autocratic style that continued to pervade post-1945 West German political culture.Less
This chapter analyzes the broader context of the three journalists' work in Hamburg as one of several media centers in West Germany. It also explores the question of press freedom during the Cold War and of how far journalists were able to enjoy it. After all, the West German Basic Law guaranteed the freedom to write and speak, within the limits of the law, without fear of being arrested and imprisoned. The Nazi era, when these freedoms had been suppressed, was over. Yet there was another constraint: after the war the Federal Republic, having abolished Nazi regimentation of the press, adopted a capitalist economy. This meant that the ultimate freedom to publish rested with the publishers and owners of a particular paper. This is the legal background of the emergence of a free press in West Germany. Many journalists who had experienced “un-freedom” and brutal censorship during the Nazi period now found themselves in the era of the Cold War, with its new conformist pressures, which were personified by Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, for he in many ways embodied the autocratic style that continued to pervade post-1945 West German political culture.
Marion Elizabeth Rodgers
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195072389
- eISBN:
- 9780199787982
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195072389.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century and Victorian Literature
Mencken believed that the Constitution and Bill of Rights were sacred documents that set clear lines of demarcation that no government should trespass. “The two main ideas that run through all of my ...
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Mencken believed that the Constitution and Bill of Rights were sacred documents that set clear lines of demarcation that no government should trespass. “The two main ideas that run through all of my writing”, he said, “whether it be literary criticism or political polemic, are these: I am strongly in favor of liberty and I hate fraud”. Freedom had always been an issue with Mencken: first, freedom from his father's choice of a career; later, as he developed as a critic, from the Victorian Puritanism that stifled American life; then, from governmental laws that violated civil liberties for whites and blacks; and finally, during the two world wars, freedom from censorship of the press.Less
Mencken believed that the Constitution and Bill of Rights were sacred documents that set clear lines of demarcation that no government should trespass. “The two main ideas that run through all of my writing”, he said, “whether it be literary criticism or political polemic, are these: I am strongly in favor of liberty and I hate fraud”. Freedom had always been an issue with Mencken: first, freedom from his father's choice of a career; later, as he developed as a critic, from the Victorian Puritanism that stifled American life; then, from governmental laws that violated civil liberties for whites and blacks; and finally, during the two world wars, freedom from censorship of the press.
Eric Barendt
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199225811
- eISBN:
- 9780191714139
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199225811.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Human Rights and Immigration
This is a revised and updated edition of the work first published in 1985. There have been many developments since the first edition, including enactment of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in ...
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This is a revised and updated edition of the work first published in 1985. There have been many developments since the first edition, including enactment of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in Canada in 1982, the impact of the European Human Rights Convention, and the consideration by English courts of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. Social and cultural changes mean that free speech claims are being made in novel contexts: to challenge the validity of bans on tobacco advertising, to publish ‘kiss and tell’ stories about celebrities, and to resist attempts to regulate the Internet. This book considers the meaning and scope of freedom of speech. How far do free speech and expression clauses protect pornography, commercial advertising, and public meetings on the streets? Does this freedom cover desecration of a national flag? Does it include nude dancing? The book discusses the legal protection of free speech in countries including England, the United States (including recent decisions of the United States Supreme Court), Canada, Germany, and under the European Human Rights Convention. It examines the varied approaches of different legal systems and constitutional traditions to balancing free speech and freedom of the press against rights to reputation and privacy and to copyright, and explores the case law in light of the philosophical and political arguments for free speech guarantees.Less
This is a revised and updated edition of the work first published in 1985. There have been many developments since the first edition, including enactment of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in Canada in 1982, the impact of the European Human Rights Convention, and the consideration by English courts of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. Social and cultural changes mean that free speech claims are being made in novel contexts: to challenge the validity of bans on tobacco advertising, to publish ‘kiss and tell’ stories about celebrities, and to resist attempts to regulate the Internet. This book considers the meaning and scope of freedom of speech. How far do free speech and expression clauses protect pornography, commercial advertising, and public meetings on the streets? Does this freedom cover desecration of a national flag? Does it include nude dancing? The book discusses the legal protection of free speech in countries including England, the United States (including recent decisions of the United States Supreme Court), Canada, Germany, and under the European Human Rights Convention. It examines the varied approaches of different legal systems and constitutional traditions to balancing free speech and freedom of the press against rights to reputation and privacy and to copyright, and explores the case law in light of the philosophical and political arguments for free speech guarantees.
Ming Sing
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781501740916
- eISBN:
- 9781501740930
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501740916.003.0011
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
This afterword addresses how the prodemocracy community and activists have been besieged by the battle of defending Hong Kong against the perceptible erosion of its freedoms and its turn to greater ...
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This afterword addresses how the prodemocracy community and activists have been besieged by the battle of defending Hong Kong against the perceptible erosion of its freedoms and its turn to greater authoritarianism. The Umbrella Movement of 2014 in Hong Kong shocked the world and captured global attention. Indeed, the movement has been hailed by many in the world, as so many Hong Kong people had the courage to challenge bluntly the largest dictatorial regime on earth for democracy. That said, the democracy movement has hit a bump, with Beijing not budging on democratization. What is worse, Beijing and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government have patently tightened their control over Hong Kong's freedoms and genuine electoral contestation in the aftermath of the movement. Soon after the termination of the Umbrella Movement, Beijing doggedly stuck to its hardline policy on Hong Kong by dramatically raising the political cost for those challenging its suppression of Hong Kong's democratization. To pre-empt another large-scale Occupy Movement, Beijing and the HKSAR government have also curbed Hong Kong's press freedom and academic freedom.Less
This afterword addresses how the prodemocracy community and activists have been besieged by the battle of defending Hong Kong against the perceptible erosion of its freedoms and its turn to greater authoritarianism. The Umbrella Movement of 2014 in Hong Kong shocked the world and captured global attention. Indeed, the movement has been hailed by many in the world, as so many Hong Kong people had the courage to challenge bluntly the largest dictatorial regime on earth for democracy. That said, the democracy movement has hit a bump, with Beijing not budging on democratization. What is worse, Beijing and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government have patently tightened their control over Hong Kong's freedoms and genuine electoral contestation in the aftermath of the movement. Soon after the termination of the Umbrella Movement, Beijing doggedly stuck to its hardline policy on Hong Kong by dramatically raising the political cost for those challenging its suppression of Hong Kong's democratization. To pre-empt another large-scale Occupy Movement, Beijing and the HKSAR government have also curbed Hong Kong's press freedom and academic freedom.
Volker R. Berghahn
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780691179636
- eISBN:
- 9780691185071
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691179636.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, Social History
This introductory chapter briefly reviews the lives of the three journalists under discussion—Marion Countess Dönhoff, Paul Sethe, and Hans Zehrer—and places them within the context of German history ...
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This introductory chapter briefly reviews the lives of the three journalists under discussion—Marion Countess Dönhoff, Paul Sethe, and Hans Zehrer—and places them within the context of German history under the shadow of World War II. It shows that the three journalists were all anti-Nazis in the Weimar Republic who had been enjoying liberal press freedoms under Article 118 of the Constitution. According to this article, “every German” had “the right, within the limits of general laws, to express his opinions freely.” Their freedom became threatened when from 1930 onward they witnessed the rise of Nazism and then Adolf Hitler's seizure of power in January 1933. Sethe, Zehrer, and Dönhoff (though she was not yet a journalist) continued to keep their distance from the regime thereafter. Unlike millions of other Germans, they never became members of the Nazi Party, nor did they emigrate or join the early underground resistance. Instead, this chapter argues that these three journalists went into “inner emigration.”Less
This introductory chapter briefly reviews the lives of the three journalists under discussion—Marion Countess Dönhoff, Paul Sethe, and Hans Zehrer—and places them within the context of German history under the shadow of World War II. It shows that the three journalists were all anti-Nazis in the Weimar Republic who had been enjoying liberal press freedoms under Article 118 of the Constitution. According to this article, “every German” had “the right, within the limits of general laws, to express his opinions freely.” Their freedom became threatened when from 1930 onward they witnessed the rise of Nazism and then Adolf Hitler's seizure of power in January 1933. Sethe, Zehrer, and Dönhoff (though she was not yet a journalist) continued to keep their distance from the regime thereafter. Unlike millions of other Germans, they never became members of the Nazi Party, nor did they emigrate or join the early underground resistance. Instead, this chapter argues that these three journalists went into “inner emigration.”
Sharon Achinstein and Elizabeth Sauer (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199295937
- eISBN:
- 9780191712210
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199295937.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 17th-century and Restoration Literature
This book locates John Milton's works in national and international contexts, and applies a variety of approaches from literary to historical, philosophical, and postcolonial. Through this, it aims ...
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This book locates John Milton's works in national and international contexts, and applies a variety of approaches from literary to historical, philosophical, and postcolonial. Through this, it aims to offer a wide-ranging exploration of how Milton's visions of tolerance reveal deeper movements in the history of the imagination. Milton is often enlisted in stories about the rise of toleration: his advocacy of open debate in defending press freedoms, his condemnation of persecution, and his criticism of ecclesiastical and political hierarchies have long been read as milestones on the road to toleration. However, there is also an intolerant Milton, whose defence of religious liberty reached only as far as Protestants. This book, consisting of sixteen chapters, analyses tolerance in Milton's poetry and prose, examining the literary means by which tolerance was questioned, observed, and became an object of meditation. Organized in three parts — ‘Revising Whig Accounts’, ‘Philosophical Engagements’, and ‘Poetry and Rhetoric’ — the contributors to this book address central toleration issues including heresy, violence, imperialism, republicanism, Catholicism, Islam, church community, liberalism, libertinism, natural law, legal theory, and equity. A pan-European perspective is presented through analysis of Milton's engagement with key figures and radical groups. All of Milton's major works are given an airing, including prose and poetry. The book suggests that Milton's writings are a significant medium through which to explore the making of modern ideas of tolerance.Less
This book locates John Milton's works in national and international contexts, and applies a variety of approaches from literary to historical, philosophical, and postcolonial. Through this, it aims to offer a wide-ranging exploration of how Milton's visions of tolerance reveal deeper movements in the history of the imagination. Milton is often enlisted in stories about the rise of toleration: his advocacy of open debate in defending press freedoms, his condemnation of persecution, and his criticism of ecclesiastical and political hierarchies have long been read as milestones on the road to toleration. However, there is also an intolerant Milton, whose defence of religious liberty reached only as far as Protestants. This book, consisting of sixteen chapters, analyses tolerance in Milton's poetry and prose, examining the literary means by which tolerance was questioned, observed, and became an object of meditation. Organized in three parts — ‘Revising Whig Accounts’, ‘Philosophical Engagements’, and ‘Poetry and Rhetoric’ — the contributors to this book address central toleration issues including heresy, violence, imperialism, republicanism, Catholicism, Islam, church community, liberalism, libertinism, natural law, legal theory, and equity. A pan-European perspective is presented through analysis of Milton's engagement with key figures and radical groups. All of Milton's major works are given an airing, including prose and poetry. The book suggests that Milton's writings are a significant medium through which to explore the making of modern ideas of tolerance.
Volker R. Berghahn
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780691179636
- eISBN:
- 9780691185071
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691179636.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, Social History
This concluding chapter recounts the struggles faced by the three journalists and places them within the wider scope of press freedom. It also considers the lessons which might be learned from their ...
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This concluding chapter recounts the struggles faced by the three journalists and places them within the wider scope of press freedom. It also considers the lessons which might be learned from their stories and how they might apply to the twenty-first century. The chapter shows how Paul Sethe, Marion Countess Dönhoff, and Hans Zehrer initially anticipated that the Nazi regime would be short-lived, but when it did last and moved toward unleashing a war of aggression and conquest, it became more and more difficult for them to expect a collapse of the Third Reich. But even the eventual collapse of the Nazi regime did not signal an end to their woes. The chapter argues that three wrestled, as writers and intellectuals, with the question not only of how to build a postwar career but also of how to transmit the experiences and insights that they had gained from the previous two decades of German and European history to their fellow-citizens and the international community, horrified by the now certain knowledge of the unprecedented crimes that had been committed in the Nazi-occupied territories and especially in the Holocaust.Less
This concluding chapter recounts the struggles faced by the three journalists and places them within the wider scope of press freedom. It also considers the lessons which might be learned from their stories and how they might apply to the twenty-first century. The chapter shows how Paul Sethe, Marion Countess Dönhoff, and Hans Zehrer initially anticipated that the Nazi regime would be short-lived, but when it did last and moved toward unleashing a war of aggression and conquest, it became more and more difficult for them to expect a collapse of the Third Reich. But even the eventual collapse of the Nazi regime did not signal an end to their woes. The chapter argues that three wrestled, as writers and intellectuals, with the question not only of how to build a postwar career but also of how to transmit the experiences and insights that they had gained from the previous two decades of German and European history to their fellow-citizens and the international community, horrified by the now certain knowledge of the unprecedented crimes that had been committed in the Nazi-occupied territories and especially in the Holocaust.
Jonathan I. Israel
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199279227
- eISBN:
- 9780191700040
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199279227.003.0031
- Subject:
- History, History of Ideas, European Modern History
This chapter focuses on physician-philosopher, Julien Offray de La Mettrie, who was involved in a remarkable and prolonged controversy affecting the course of the Radical Enlightenment in the ...
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This chapter focuses on physician-philosopher, Julien Offray de La Mettrie, who was involved in a remarkable and prolonged controversy affecting the course of the Radical Enlightenment in the mid-1740s. This philosophical but also rather public affair not only greatly scandalized respectable opinion but called into question the fundamental values and meaning of radical thought, and the relationship of the radical fringe to existing society, in a way which had far-reaching implications for the future and also highlighted the peculiarities of established methods of intellectual censorship, intensifying the long-standing controversy over toleration and freedom of the press. Most importantly, it caused a permanent and complete rupture between La Mettrie and the main body of radical philosophes.Less
This chapter focuses on physician-philosopher, Julien Offray de La Mettrie, who was involved in a remarkable and prolonged controversy affecting the course of the Radical Enlightenment in the mid-1740s. This philosophical but also rather public affair not only greatly scandalized respectable opinion but called into question the fundamental values and meaning of radical thought, and the relationship of the radical fringe to existing society, in a way which had far-reaching implications for the future and also highlighted the peculiarities of established methods of intellectual censorship, intensifying the long-standing controversy over toleration and freedom of the press. Most importantly, it caused a permanent and complete rupture between La Mettrie and the main body of radical philosophes.
Sudhir Naib
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198067474
- eISBN:
- 9780199081226
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198067474.003.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Constitutional and Administrative Law
This chapter summarizes the development, the growth, and the present trend in the freedom of information (FOI) movement and the general applicability of this doctrine within a global context. It ...
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This chapter summarizes the development, the growth, and the present trend in the freedom of information (FOI) movement and the general applicability of this doctrine within a global context. It begins by looking at the historical evolution of FOI, starting from the 1766 Swedish Freedom of the Press Act. It shows a notable increase in realising of the importance of information access, not only as a human right, but also as an important right for the promotion of good governance and the fight against corruption. The discussion shows that no less than 70 countries have implemented the Freedom of Information Act. The chapter also looks at the efforts of various international bodies for the implementation of FOI laws. A comparative study of FOI in five countries — India, United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and South Africa — is included.Less
This chapter summarizes the development, the growth, and the present trend in the freedom of information (FOI) movement and the general applicability of this doctrine within a global context. It begins by looking at the historical evolution of FOI, starting from the 1766 Swedish Freedom of the Press Act. It shows a notable increase in realising of the importance of information access, not only as a human right, but also as an important right for the promotion of good governance and the fight against corruption. The discussion shows that no less than 70 countries have implemented the Freedom of Information Act. The chapter also looks at the efforts of various international bodies for the implementation of FOI laws. A comparative study of FOI in five countries — India, United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and South Africa — is included.
Wendell Bird
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- April 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780197509197
- eISBN:
- 9780197509227
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780197509197.003.0002
- Subject:
- Law, Legal History
The narrow understanding of freedoms of press and speech, adopted by Sir William Blackstone and Lord Chief Justice Mansfield, defined those freedoms as no more than liberty from a government-issued ...
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The narrow understanding of freedoms of press and speech, adopted by Sir William Blackstone and Lord Chief Justice Mansfield, defined those freedoms as no more than liberty from a government-issued license or other prior restraint, with no liberty from punishment of sentiments once printed or spoken. In doing that, the last volume of Blackstone’s Commentaries in 1769 summarized a narrow common law definition of freedoms of press and speech that did not exist in common law. Mansfield’s decisions introduced a similar definition into the common law for the first time the year after that. Besides describing a new definition as ancient, both Blackstone and Mansfield described the related framework for prosecuting sedition as being ancient and universally accepted, when in fact it was a collection of unique rules adopted and manufactured seventy years before and recently revised. Blackstone and Mansfield were not declaring ancient law but were creating new law.Less
The narrow understanding of freedoms of press and speech, adopted by Sir William Blackstone and Lord Chief Justice Mansfield, defined those freedoms as no more than liberty from a government-issued license or other prior restraint, with no liberty from punishment of sentiments once printed or spoken. In doing that, the last volume of Blackstone’s Commentaries in 1769 summarized a narrow common law definition of freedoms of press and speech that did not exist in common law. Mansfield’s decisions introduced a similar definition into the common law for the first time the year after that. Besides describing a new definition as ancient, both Blackstone and Mansfield described the related framework for prosecuting sedition as being ancient and universally accepted, when in fact it was a collection of unique rules adopted and manufactured seventy years before and recently revised. Blackstone and Mansfield were not declaring ancient law but were creating new law.
Wendell Bird
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780190461621
- eISBN:
- 9780190461980
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190461621.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, American History: early to 18th Century, Political History
Chapter 4 discusses the views of freedoms of press and speech of the first six justices of the US Supreme Court, before some reversed their positions during the battles over the Sedition Act of 1798, ...
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Chapter 4 discusses the views of freedoms of press and speech of the first six justices of the US Supreme Court, before some reversed their positions during the battles over the Sedition Act of 1798, based on the published as well as the unpublished writings of those justices. The first six justices of the Supreme Court were John Jay, John Rutledge, William Cushing, James Wilson, John Blair, and James Iredell. None adopted William Blackstone’s narrow approach to liberties of press and speech before 1798, though two did thereafter. Instead, their views of those liberties were strikingly broad prior to 1798.Less
Chapter 4 discusses the views of freedoms of press and speech of the first six justices of the US Supreme Court, before some reversed their positions during the battles over the Sedition Act of 1798, based on the published as well as the unpublished writings of those justices. The first six justices of the Supreme Court were John Jay, John Rutledge, William Cushing, James Wilson, John Blair, and James Iredell. None adopted William Blackstone’s narrow approach to liberties of press and speech before 1798, though two did thereafter. Instead, their views of those liberties were strikingly broad prior to 1798.
Wendell Bird
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- April 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780197509197
- eISBN:
- 9780197509227
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780197509197.003.0004
- Subject:
- Law, Legal History
For a time after licensing expired in England in 1695, some people identified freedom of press narrowly as freedom from licensing, but a broader concept was spreading. For example, Young Gentleman in ...
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For a time after licensing expired in England in 1695, some people identified freedom of press narrowly as freedom from licensing, but a broader concept was spreading. For example, Young Gentleman in 1712 said that one side sought restraint “either by reviving the [Licensing] Act . . . or by some other law” (like taxes), while the other side advocated “unrestrain’d freedom of the press” based on “the liberty and property of the subject, which all Britains are so tender of” and which “no act of Parliament . . . can infringe.” Increasingly, freedoms of press and speech were described as something more than freedom from prior restraint, such as “freedom . . . to communicate his sentiments to the public,” a right to publish, liberty of inquiry, freedom from any restraint, or security from prosecution. Cato’s Letters in 1720 stressed that if officials were trustees for the people, discussion and criticism of their trusteeship was a right.Less
For a time after licensing expired in England in 1695, some people identified freedom of press narrowly as freedom from licensing, but a broader concept was spreading. For example, Young Gentleman in 1712 said that one side sought restraint “either by reviving the [Licensing] Act . . . or by some other law” (like taxes), while the other side advocated “unrestrain’d freedom of the press” based on “the liberty and property of the subject, which all Britains are so tender of” and which “no act of Parliament . . . can infringe.” Increasingly, freedoms of press and speech were described as something more than freedom from prior restraint, such as “freedom . . . to communicate his sentiments to the public,” a right to publish, liberty of inquiry, freedom from any restraint, or security from prosecution. Cato’s Letters in 1720 stressed that if officials were trustees for the people, discussion and criticism of their trusteeship was a right.
Maximillian E. Novak
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199261543
- eISBN:
- 9780191698743
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199261543.003.0027
- Subject:
- Literature, 18th-century Literature
Daniel Defoe did not publish many pamphlets during the years 1708 and 1709. Toward the end of 1709, Defoe devoted a number of issues to concepts of freedom of the press and to a new bill concerning ...
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Daniel Defoe did not publish many pamphlets during the years 1708 and 1709. Toward the end of 1709, Defoe devoted a number of issues to concepts of freedom of the press and to a new bill concerning the rights of authors which was going through Parliament. His chief job while in Scotland was defending the Union, particularly against charges in England that the Church of Scotland was persecuting the Episcopalian ministers in Scotland. He regarded these charges as inspired by the Jacobites and launched an attack upon James Greensheils, whom Defoe thought had not been properly ordained and had been thus rightfully prevented from preaching by the Church of Scotland. In some ways the narrative method of The History of the Union, with its glances backward, its dramatic plot, its focus on details and vivid scenes, and its repetitions, bore considerable resemblance to the kind of fiction Defoe would eventually write.Less
Daniel Defoe did not publish many pamphlets during the years 1708 and 1709. Toward the end of 1709, Defoe devoted a number of issues to concepts of freedom of the press and to a new bill concerning the rights of authors which was going through Parliament. His chief job while in Scotland was defending the Union, particularly against charges in England that the Church of Scotland was persecuting the Episcopalian ministers in Scotland. He regarded these charges as inspired by the Jacobites and launched an attack upon James Greensheils, whom Defoe thought had not been properly ordained and had been thus rightfully prevented from preaching by the Church of Scotland. In some ways the narrative method of The History of the Union, with its glances backward, its dramatic plot, its focus on details and vivid scenes, and its repetitions, bore considerable resemblance to the kind of fiction Defoe would eventually write.
Eckhart Hellmuth
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781474405676
- eISBN:
- 9781474418805
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474405676.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
This chapter examines a number of texts, dating from the turn of the seventeenth to the eighteenth centuries, that took a new look at the problem of the freedom of religion, the press, and opinion. ...
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This chapter examines a number of texts, dating from the turn of the seventeenth to the eighteenth centuries, that took a new look at the problem of the freedom of religion, the press, and opinion. This represents part of the debate that was conducted after the abolition of the licensing system in 1695. The chapter traces the line that leads from Matthew Tindal's Letter to a Member of Parliament (1698) to Anthony Collins' Apology for Free Debate and Liberty of Writing (1724). These positions from the deistic milieu are contrasted with reflections on the liberty of the press from the camp of High Church orthodoxy. It also considers how a number of writers, both supporters and opponents of the 'liberty of the press', linked the issue of press freedom to liberty of conscience and increasingly employed an idiom of natural rights in doing so.Less
This chapter examines a number of texts, dating from the turn of the seventeenth to the eighteenth centuries, that took a new look at the problem of the freedom of religion, the press, and opinion. This represents part of the debate that was conducted after the abolition of the licensing system in 1695. The chapter traces the line that leads from Matthew Tindal's Letter to a Member of Parliament (1698) to Anthony Collins' Apology for Free Debate and Liberty of Writing (1724). These positions from the deistic milieu are contrasted with reflections on the liberty of the press from the camp of High Church orthodoxy. It also considers how a number of writers, both supporters and opponents of the 'liberty of the press', linked the issue of press freedom to liberty of conscience and increasingly employed an idiom of natural rights in doing so.
