The Limits of the Public Sphere: The Advocacy of Violence

Abstract

In this paper, we give an account of some of the necessary conditions for an effectively functioning public sphere, and then explore the question of whether these conditions allow for the expression of ideas and values that are fundamentally incompatible with those of liberalism. We argue that speakers who advocate or glorify violence against democratic institutions fall outside the parameters of what constitutes legitimate public debate and may in fact undermine the conditions necessary for the flourishing of free speech and public dialogue more generally.

Keywords:

• civility
• democracy
• free speech
• political violence
• the public sphere