Philosophy Salon: Free Speech under Fire

Does free speech have limits? Can and should social media platforms control what their users say?

In his new book Setting Fire to Reason, philosopher Jeffrey Howard argues that free speech is among our most important moral rights, but—like all rights—it has limits, determined by moral duties we owe to each other. Howard will be unpicking the law, morality and limits of free speech with and host Julian Baggini and political theorist Judith Squires. In the second half, the conversation will be led by your questions. Come not only to hear about free speech, but to participate in it.

Jeffrey W. Howard is professor of political philosophy and public policy at University College London, where he is director of the Digital Speech Lab. He is the author of Setting Fire to Reason: The Ethics of Free Speech and co-editor of the journal Political Philosophy.

Judith Squires was Professor of Political Theory and Dean of Social Sciences and Law at the University of Bristol before becoming its Deputy Vice Chancellor and Provost. The New Politics of Gender Equality is among her many publications and commissioned reports.