Freedom of Screech

by Peter Saint-Andre

2025-05-13

My alma mater, Columbia University, was back in the news yet again last week because some screeching students took over parts of Butler Library while serious students were preparing for final exams. The details are unimportant in this context; instead I'm puzzled by what passes for speech these days.

In ancient Greek, the word λόγος means, at root, both thought and speech: it is simultaneously the thinking that reveals itself in speech and the speaking that reveals what a person is thinking. Mindlessly chanting slogans with one's fellow "activists" barely counts as speech, if you ask me, because there is barely any thought behind it - to mention a few more meanings of λόγος, those who merely screech offer no reasoned account of their ideas and are not seeking a conversation in pursuit of truth. Comparatively speaking, the anti-war protesters who engaged in sit-ins at Columbia 60+ years ago were paragons of intellectualism, for many of them held teach-ins and earnestly sought to persuade others of their point of view.

Freedom of speech is enshrined in the First Amendment for many good reasons, but I am far less impressed by freedom of screech, especially since it is typically accompanied by physical intimidation that goes well beyond peaceful association with likeminded others.

(Cross-posted at Beautiful Wisdom.)


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