But this needed reckoning has also intensified a new set of moral attitudes and political commitments that tend to weaken our norms of open debate and toleration of differences in favor of ideological conformity.
Institutions are listed for identification purposes only. We welcome responses at letters@harpers.org Our cultural institutions are facing a moment of trial. Letter signed by J.K. Rowling, Noam Chomsky warning of stifled free speech draws mixed reviews The missive, which appeared in Harper's Magazine, ignited a … On July 7, American magazine Harper’s published an open letter titled “A Letter on Justice and Open Debate” signed by over 150 writers, intellectuals, journalists, historians and academicians that called for a culture that encourages open debate and greater tolerance towards differences in opinion. We need to preserve the possibility of good-faith disagreement without dire professional consequences. The restriction of debate, whether by a repressive government or an intolerant society, invariably hurts those who lack power and makes everyone less capable of democratic participation.
Anthony L. Fisher. We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests.
"A Letter on Justice and Open Debate", also known as the Harper's Letter, is an open letter defending free speech published on the Harper's Magazine website on July 7, 2020, with 153 signatories, including J. K. Rowling, Steven Pinker, Gloria Steinem, Noam Chomsky, and Margaret Atwood. The Harper's 'letter' proves we need to have a serious talk about free speech. We rely on readers like you to uphold a free press.
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Get Access to Print and Digital for $23.99. As we applaud the first development, we also raise our voices against the second. Last week, Harper’s published an open letter arguing that “the free exchange of information and ideas, the lifeblood of a liberal society, is daily becoming more constricted.” The letter had a long list of signatories, and triggered an instant controversy, not so much for what it said as a text as for how it was being used as a political document. July 7, 2020 The below letter will be appearing in the Letters section of the magazine’s October issue. The way to defeat bad ideas is by exposure, argument, and persuasion, not by trying to silence or wish them away. The letter criticized what it perceived as a present state of "illiberalism" across the political spectrum, denouncing President Donald Trump as "a real threat to democracy" while also decrying the spread of "canc
The democratic inclusion we want can be achieved only if we speak out against the intolerant climate that has set in on all sides.The free exchange of information and ideas, the lifeblood of a liberal society, is daily becoming more constricted.
By clicking “I agree” below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. Powerful protests for racial and social justice are leading to overdue demands for police reform, along with wider calls for greater equality and […] More troubling still, institutional leaders, in a spirit of panicked damage control, are delivering hasty and disproportionate punishments instead of considered reforms. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue.
We refuse any false choice between justice and freedom, which cannot exist without each other. While we have come to expect this on the radical right, censoriousness is also spreading more widely in our culture: an intolerance of opposing views, a vogue for public shaming and ostracism, and the tendency to dissolve complex policy issues in a blinding moral certainty. As writers we need a culture that leaves us room for experimentation, risk taking, and even mistakes.