Defending Free Speech, Steve Simpson
Defending Free Speech, Steve Simpson
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Defending Free Speech
Selected Commentary by the Ayn Rand Institute

Author: Steve Simpson, Onkar Ghate, Leonard Peikoff, Elan Journo

Narrator: Chris Abell

Unabridged: 3 hr 52 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 12/04/2018

Synopsis

Freedom of speech is indispensable to a free and civilized society, yet this precious right is increasingly under attack today. Islamic totalitarians repeatedly threaten and kill those deemed blasphemers while our political leaders stand idly by—and many intellectuals blame the victims. College students seek “trigger warnings” and “safe spaces” from controversial ideas. The government harasses tea party groups, preventing them from speaking out during an election, and it investigates oil companies and advocacy groups for the “crime” of dissenting from climate change orthodoxy. Why is this happening? What can be done? This hard-hitting collection provides answers. Applying Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism to the most pressing free speech issues of the day, the essays in this book reveal the attacks on free speech to be the product of destructive ideas—ideas that are eroding Western culture at its foundation. They expose those ideas and the individuals who hold them, and, importantly, they identify the only ideas on which Western civilization can be sustained: reason, egoism, and individual rights.

About Steve Simpson

Steve Simpson, a former constitutional litigator, is the director of legal studies at the Ayn Rand Institute.

About Onkar Ghate

Onkar Ghate is senior fellow, chief content officer, and a board member of the Ayn Rand Institute. He specializes in Rand’s philosophy, Objectivism, and is ARI’s senior instructor and editor. He publishes and lectures on Rand’s philosophy and fiction, including application of Objectivism in the culture, and has been a guest on national radio and television programs.

About Leonard Peikoff

Leonard Peikoff is universally recognized as the preeminent Rand scholar writing today. He worked closely with Ayn Rand for thirty years and was designated by her as heir to her estate. He has taught philosophy at Hunter College, Long Island University, and New York University. Peikoff for many years lectured on Rand’s philosophy throughout the country. He lives in Southern California.

About Elan Journo

Elan Journo is a fellow and director of policy research at the Ayn Rand Institute. He is the author of What Justice Demands: America and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, a contributor to Defending Free Speech, and editor of Winning the Unwinnable War.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Andrew on September 30, 2019

I’d like to begin this review with three disclaimers as I think they’re both important to understanding my mindset before reading the book. First of all, I had no idea that this was a book from the Ayn Rand Institute until I started reading it. I buy books based on either recognising the author or of......more

Goodreads review by Steven on February 17, 2020

Sometimes the objectivists are silly self-defeating libertarians. Sometimes objectivists are just neo-cons. The neo-con side is basically the contents of this book. Its essentially one big "let's you and him fight, because muslims don't like people drawing Mohammad." Had this been published 19 years a......more

Goodreads review by John on November 30, 2022

This collection of short articles written by Objectivists around the topic of free speech, and it begins with Salman Rushdie and goes through the Muhammed drawings, and then the Charlie Hebdo shooting, focusing on how Islam is against the core idea of freedom of speech. I found the amount of article......more

Goodreads review by Paul on December 14, 2016

This book is a collection of essays on the subject of free speech written across multiple decades, beginning with the fatwah on Salman Rushdie and leading up to the recent attacks at Charlie Hebdo and Garland, Texas. You can really see how the response to threats and attacks against speech has gotte......more

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