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I think you mean freedom of speech is only a negative right and not a positive right. You cannot compel anyone to enable your speech.
by captainoats 5y ago
I think you mean freedom of speech is only a negative right and not a positive right. You cannot compel anyone to enable your speech.
- xoa 5y agoI considered not including that line at all, and I probably shouldn't have because "positive/negative right" definitions can get quite blurry and dependent on the chosen frame of reference. Particularly online tend to get into twisty definitional arguments none of which actually clarify anything. I was being lazy and meant it in that we all have the affirmative right to express ourselves as well as the right not to and to not be compelled to do so, but I suppose legally speaking it could all be under the heading of "the right to not have force used against one over speech". The world "compel" itself after all can also get blurry. At any rate, I won't edit that out, but it wasn't the best choice of words. If this was a paper, it wouldn't have made the second draft after I re-read it the next morning :).