by John Stuart Mill 1806-1873

The Decencies of Debate

Abusive language, straw-man arguments and downright ‘fake news’ should have no place in civilised debate, but censoring them is far worse.

1858

Queen Victoria 1837-1901

Introduction

Addressing the issue of freedom of speech, John Stuart Mill turned his attention in On Liberty to the use of uncivil discourse and what we now call ‘fake news’. He admitted both were disagreeable and even dangerous, but felt that no action should be taken to police them. Such action makes the Establishment into judge, jury and executioner, and honest dissent is declared a sign of bad or even criminal character.

by John Stuart Mill 1806-1873

abridged

Undoubtedly the manner of asserting an opinion, even though it be a true one, may be very objectionable, and may justly incur severe censure. But the principal offences of the kind are such as it is mostly impossible, unless by accidental self-betrayal, to bring home to conviction.* The gravest of them is, to argue sophistically,* to suppress facts or arguments, to misstate the elements of the case, or misrepresent the opposite opinion. But all this, even to the most aggravated degree, is so continually done in perfect good faith, by persons who are not considered, and in many other respects may not deserve to be considered, ignorant or incompetent, that it is rarely possible on adequate grounds conscientiously to stamp the misrepresentation as morally culpable; and still less could law presume to interfere with this kind of controversial misconduct.

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* That is, unless the speaker gives himself away in some fashion, it is impossible to prove satisfactorily that he is dishonest.

* That is, in the manner of the ancient Greek sophists, teachers of oratory who hired themselves out to ambitious and often unscrupulous members of local democratic assemblies. See Rhetoric and the Beast.

Précis

Victorian philosopher John Stuart Mill argued that incivility and misrepresentation of facts in debate are to be deplored, but it is almost impossible to police them without injustice. This is especially the case with misrepresentation, because unless the speaker gives himself away there is no way of proving that he was being dishonest.

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