表达自由的法律限度

by Alexander Meiklejohn, 亚历山大·米克尔约翰

这是一本同时具有严肃凝重的学术内容与通俗易懂的小说效果，能让您始终怀着激情一读到底且意犹未尽的书，也是一本影响了美国有关言论自由的著名司法判决的书。这就是由美国著名学者亚历山大.米克尔约翰所著、候建先生翻译，并由贵州人民出版社2003年出版的公法译丛中的《表达自由的法律限度》。虽然全书不足十万字，但透过其细致深刻和富有逻辑的论证和反思，我们似乎在事实与规范之外感受到保障具有公共性质的表达自由的更多价值与现实意义。

Genres: Philosophy

92 pages, Paperback

First published December 27, 2011

Reviews

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good foundational reading for FA theory. Very clear and easily digestible set of lectures on the idea of self-government as both a historical driver and contemporary result of our understanding and social commitment to the First Amendment. The author shares his theory (broadly stated here) that First Amendment protections are reserved for speech in the “public interest” versus individual personal freedoms separately outlined in the Fifth Amendment (and 14th re state rights). He articulates his reasoning with clarity, along with his argument refuting Justice Holmes’ ruling originating the “clear and present danger” test (and subsequent “balancing” test). Whether or not you agree with his position, the book clearly connects the dots among government repression of speech, what it means to self-govern, and how our contemporary translations of these principles can greatly affect the health of our democracy.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic for a reason.

[Nicktimebreak · Rating 5 out of 5]

大半年前，看了安东尼刘易斯的《言论的边界》——一部美国宪法第一修正案的简史，作者通过大量的司法案例实践，梳理了两百多年来关于言论自由这一「社会核心价值观」在美国的发展。当时我还深深的臣服于霍姆斯大法官关于言论自由的判定。然而在这本书里，“明显且即刻的危险”这个在我看来挽救言论自由的原则，成了批判的对象。但不得不说米克尔约翰的论证也令我心悦诚服。本书在开篇将人民自由与人民自治结合在一起帮助读者理解权利法案的背景，论证中作者保留了第一修正案的绝对自由——用于保护公言论，而将第五修正案用来保护私言论，并着重批判了“明显且即刻的危险”破坏自治原则，不利教育年轻公民，错用修正案的问题。BTW，本书的译后记也值得一读。

[Vera]

结合最近的新闻看，自由这两个字真是讽刺。