Sto.

Domingo National High School

Sto. Domingo, Albay

S.Y. 2019 -2020

Ylliad De Chavez 11- A (STEM)

Manuscript No. 3

Freedom of Speech is Fallacy

We all know that speech is of great importance to everyone. It is used to express ones
thoughts and opinions. When people face limitations in speech, they are also to face
limitations in thoughts. And it is not possible to imagine a democratic society without the right
to speech. “Without freedom of speech, there can be no dialogue and without dialogue
there can do be democracy” (Shipler, 2016). But does freedom of speech mean an absolute
absence of censorship? Of course not. Freedom of speech cannot be total. To put it simply, it
is a fallacy.

“Communicating with other people reflects our values” (Lukianoff, 2014). Many of the
founding father’s ideas were greatly influenced by Christianity. Yet is freedom of speech has
biblical basis? The bible has something to tell us about such things. In the book of Genesis, we
learned from the story of Adam and Eve that God has given people free will. We are free to
make decisions but god also warned us about the consequences of our action. The Bible also
provides us guidelines for what we should and should not say. Therefore, it also says that there
is no freedom in speech because there is always restriction in it.

In science freedom of speech is one of its important norms. Scientific progress may only
occur through communicating and showing our potentials and insights (Edwards, 2015). We
can only move forward by stating our point of view. But in order to generate different views,
people must have the right to raise their knowledge about things. According to Ash (2017), “all
human beings must have the opportunity to hear, read and express themselves to other
people”. However in today’s society, scientists also are not given the right to say their thoughts
fully. Some of their ideas are prevented to be expressed by both government and media. They
are not so free to discuss matters with their peers and public at large. So how can this be
called freedom if there is full of hindrance?

The freedom of speech defined by many is the right to say what they please without
fearing of being punished. But according to Timms (2016) it is the right to seek, receive and
impart information and ideas of all kinds. It is protected by the most relevant constitutional
provisions. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, freedom of expression is
the right of an individual to hold opinions and seek information without interference. But even
with this international law, I can’t believe that there is complete freedom. People always
misbelieve that there is always freedom but in fact there is not.

Philosophy also has something to say about this topic. It states that the freedom of
expression is an aspect that requires the possibility to express our view. According to Smolla
(2017), freedom of speech has value on a more personal level and it is a part of human
personality. It therefore involves both inner and outer element. Philosophy tells us that the inner
element is how you address your ideas in your own self while the outer element is expressing
your ideas considering your environment. An English Philosopher addressed an important
paradox relating to freedom of speech. “The truth and untruth should be something which
can be heard. It is not something to be prevented from being expressed.” (Mill, 1997).

Freedom of expression does not simply protect an individual’s liberty from state
interference. It protects an individual’s freedom to communicate with others. The right of the
individual to participate in an activity that is deeply social in character that involves socially
created language. Viewed through the lens of sociological theory, this is freedom is seen to be
desirable privilege for everyone. According to Josie (2016), freedom of expression reinforces all
other human rights. So a society without freedom of expression cannot be productive. They
cannot also develop progress.

As conclusion, the freedom in speech is not total and complete. It is a wrong belief that
we can fully say what we want without limitations. Remember that our action has
consequences. Also not all things are free. Let us know our limitations of this privilege. We can
express what we want and talk to others. But let us also think before we speak.