Hobbes against hate speech

This article argues that Thomas Hobbes' analysis of insult or ‘contumely’ prefigures recent developments in moral and political philosophy in striking ways. Specifically, Hobbes's concerns about the dignitary harms in hate speech went well beyond ‘fighting words’ to the essential role play...

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Huvudupphovsman: Bejan, T
Materialtyp: Journal article
Språk:English
Publicerad: Taylor and Francis 2022
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author Bejan, T
author_facet Bejan, T
author_sort Bejan, T
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description This article argues that Thomas Hobbes' analysis of insult or ‘contumely’ prefigures recent developments in moral and political philosophy in striking ways. Specifically, Hobbes's concerns about the dignitary harms in hate speech went well beyond ‘fighting words’ to the essential role played by expressions of hatred and contempt in making and unmaking social hierarchies. Hobbes’s sensitivity to contumely’s subtle power to constitute social in/equalities recalls recent work in feminist and critical race theory. Yet his expansive solutions – both negative and positive, legal and ethical – also shed light on the difficulties faced by aspirationally egalitarian societies in their efforts to eradicate contempt today.
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spelling oxford-uuid:ab2b88f9-aaf8-46b8-a13f-1dbf9e1e2ddd2024-06-07T10:51:06ZHobbes against hate speechJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:ab2b88f9-aaf8-46b8-a13f-1dbf9e1e2dddEnglishSymplectic ElementsTaylor and Francis2022Bejan, TThis article argues that Thomas Hobbes' analysis of insult or ‘contumely’ prefigures recent developments in moral and political philosophy in striking ways. Specifically, Hobbes's concerns about the dignitary harms in hate speech went well beyond ‘fighting words’ to the essential role played by expressions of hatred and contempt in making and unmaking social hierarchies. Hobbes’s sensitivity to contumely’s subtle power to constitute social in/equalities recalls recent work in feminist and critical race theory. Yet his expansive solutions – both negative and positive, legal and ethical – also shed light on the difficulties faced by aspirationally egalitarian societies in their efforts to eradicate contempt today.
spellingShingle Bejan, T
Hobbes against hate speech
title Hobbes against hate speech
title_full Hobbes against hate speech
title_fullStr Hobbes against hate speech
title_full_unstemmed Hobbes against hate speech
title_short Hobbes against hate speech
title_sort hobbes against hate speech
work_keys_str_mv AT bejant hobbesagainsthatespeech