Summary of Jacob Mchangama's Free Speech

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 For much of recorded history, speaking truth to power was dangerous and ill-advised. The ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius stressed the importance of obedience toward superiors and rulers, while the Sumerian Code of Ur-Nammu from around 2050 BCE decreed that if a slave woman curses someone acting with the authority of her mistress, they shall scour her mouth with one sila of salt.

#2 Among the ancient world’s harsh commandments, we can detect traces of religious tolerance. The Achaemenid Persian Empire’s king, Cyrus the Great, issued a clay cylinder declaring freedom of worship for his empire’s subjects in the sixth century BCE.

#3 The city of Athens was the first to formalize and articulate the values of democracy and free speech as a source of pride and virtue. However, the Athenian democracy was not ideal, as it did not include women, foreigners, and slaves.

#4 Demosthenes, a famous Athenian orator, was a champion of parrhēsía. He believed that free speech led to truth, and that democracies were superior to oligarchies that produced fear.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Apr 21, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669389545

IRB Media

With IRB books, you can get the key takeaways and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.

Book preview

Insights on Jacob Mchangama's Free Speech

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 11

Insights from Chapter 12

Insights from Chapter 13

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

For much of recorded history, speaking truth to power was dangerous and ill-advised. The ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius stressed the importance of obedience toward superiors and rulers, while the Sumerian Code of Ur-Nammu from around 2050 BCE decreed that if a slave woman curses someone acting with the authority of her mistress, they shall scour her mouth with one sila of salt.

#2

Among the ancient world’s harsh commandments, we can detect traces of religious tolerance. The Achaemenid Persian Empire’s king, Cyrus the Great, issued a clay cylinder declaring freedom of worship for his empire’s subjects in the sixth century BCE.

#3

The city of Athens was the first to formalize and articulate the values of democracy and free speech as a source of pride and virtue. However, the Athenian democracy was not ideal, as it did not include women, foreigners, and slaves.

#4

Demosthenes, a famous Athenian orator, was a champion of parrhēsía. He believed that free speech led to truth, and that democracies were superior to oligarchies that produced fear.

#5

While there were limits to free speech in Athens, it was a practice that allowed for a rich intellectual life. It was not limited to the political sphere, and it allowed for a free discussion of politics in the marketplace.

#6

The ancient city of Athens was home to two rock stars of Western philosophy, Plato and Aristotle. They were allowed to write, teach, and set up academies there, where they could promote alternative constitutions.

#7

The beginning of the end for the Athenian democracy was the Sicilian Expedition, in which the assembly voted to launch an disastrous war against Syracuse. The people were so thoroughly cowed that they thought themselves lucky to escape violence, even when they held their tongues.

#8

The Athenians executed Socrates for impiety in 399 BCE, after he had been speaking publicly for decades. He had been proselytizing his own secretive religion, which many Athenians found offensive.

#9

The trial of Socrates reveals that the most important of democratic values, free speech, is also the most vulnerable. Democracies may be as oppressive as oligarchies if the right of the individual to challenge the prevailing ideas and morals of the majority is ignored.

#10

The Roman Republic was established around 509 BCE when the Romans expelled their last king and swore never to be ruled by a monarch again. The Romans had no problem applying sticks and stones to break the bones of name-callers.

#11

The Romans had a very different idea of free speech than the Greeks. While the Romans valued free speech, they also valued it for the right people. It was primarily exercised in the Senate, by magistrates before assemblies, and by orators before the