A Fighting Creed: The Free Speech Narrative in the Danish Cartoon Controversy

Abstract

The attainment of freedom of expression is not the sole aim of the good society. As the private right of the individual, freedom of expression is an end in itself, but it is not the only end of man as an individual… Any theory of freedom of expression must therefore take into account other values, such as public order, justice, equality and moral progress, and the need for substantive measures designed to promote those ideals. Hence there is a real problem of reconciling freedom with the other values and objectives sought by the good society (Emerson, 880).