Voltaire on Freedom of Speech
Freedom of Speech is Suffocating
Sophia: Friends, we gather to consider the paradoxes of speech, belief, and human connection. Voltaire, you declared, “I disapprove of what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it.” Chomsky extends this, insisting that if we cannot defend speech we despise, we defend nothing at all. Yet sometimes freedom of expression feels… suffocating. Why is that?
Voltaire: Sophia, the suffocation comes not from freedom itself, but from the confrontation with ideas that disturb us. To defend speech is to accept discomfort, to recognize that liberty is inseparable from risk — even the risk of offense.
Chomsky: Indeed. True freedom requires tolerating what challenges our sensibilities. Suppressing it for comfort or consensus is hypocrisy. The burden of liberty is the presence of disagreeable voices, even when we wish them silent.
I disapprove of what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it.
— Voltaire (1694-1778)
Mill: And yet, Sophia, belief transforms this dynamic. One person with a belief is equal to a force of ninety-nine who have only interests. A single committed voice can alter discourse profoundly, demanding that freedom of speech be honored precisely because it channels conviction, not mere convenience.
Proust: And let us not forget the heart’s measure. Love is space and time measured by the heart. Freedom of speech can suffocate when it neglects human connection. Words without empathy or awareness of context weigh heavy; expression alone is insufficient. It must resonate with the shared human experience.
One person with a belief is equal to a force of ninety-nine who have only interests.
— John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)
Sophia: So suffocation arises when liberty is exercised without reflection, conviction, or compassion. Freedom of speech is both vital and burdensome — a space where discomfort, belief, and feeling converge.
Voltaire: Precisely. To defend the right to speak is a moral exercise, a test of courage, not comfort. It demands endurance and discernment.
Love is space and time measured by the heart.
— Marcel Proust (1871-1922)
Mill: And the potency of belief reminds us that expression is transformative. Even one voice, fully engaged, can redirect society’s currents.
Proust: Yet the heart measures the depth of that influence. Expression without care or empathy can alienate or harm. Freedom must be tempered with human sensitivity.
If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all.
— Noam Chomsky (1928-present)
Chomsky: In the end, suffocation is the inevitable companion of liberty. It is the weight of witnessing ideas we reject, but the burden is necessary to preserve the principle.
Sophia: Then freedom of speech is not a light blessing but a heavy responsibility — requiring courage, conviction, and heart. Only by embracing its discomfort can we truly honor it.
They sit in reflective silence, aware that liberty’s paradox is its constant tension: the right to speak is inseparable from the responsibility to endure, to empathize, and to engage with conviction, however suffocating it may feel.
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