The enlightenment position holding: «Monsieur l’abbé, je déteste ce que vous écrivez, mais je donnerai ma vie pour que vous puissiez continuer à écrire» isn't c

The enlightenment position holding: «Monsieur l’abbé, je déteste ce que vous écrivez, mais je donnerai ma vie pour que vous puissiez continuer à écrire» isn't celebrated by the mainstream culture anymore. It always was a bit hypocritical, there were historical boundaries for whatever the contemporary view of obscenity might be, but free speech was still valued. Nor is the simple child's rhyme "Sticks and stones may break my bones But words shall never hurt me" held to be true. We really need to figure out a middle way that preserves some of the older enlightenment virtues with more modern understandings of verbal harms. There has to be social norms that discourage assholes without the instant-banishment, or fear-of-mispeaking that has edged its way forward. Or the boorish result of the backlash involving those saying any inane thing without a filter.