Speech Is Violence? Not if We Want a Liberal, Intellectual Society
A culture that allows the concept of “safety” to creep so far that it equates emotional discomfort with physical danger is a culture that encourages people to systematically protect one another from the very experiences embedded in daily life that they need in order to become strong and healthy
Jonathan Haidt • The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure
This explains why so much outrage in the public square is now directed at what one might call speech crimes. Even the neologism hate speech speaks to this. While earlier generations might have seen damage to body or property as the most serious categories of crime, a highly psychologized era will accord increasing importance to words as means of op
... See moreCarl R. Trueman • The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self
Today a new ethical concept has been established, one with extraordinary implications. It is the notion of “verbal harassment,” “words that wound,” “assaultive speech.” Hurtful words are a kind of violence, that notion holds.