The First Amendment Is Ethical Essay
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise therefore, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peacefully to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” Being the first amendment to our Constitution, our founding fathers saw the importance of giving the citizens the freedom of speech, but this is not absolute because it has certain limitations. Despite these limitations, it was determined that the first amendment was critical to having a true democracy. The question of what is ethical can be subjective, thus rendering different answers depending on who you ask. This type of volatility can lead to a less stable democracy;
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These examples: hate speech, threats, libel or slander, and speech that attempts to incite violence are not protected under the first amendment, but all of these types of speech are close to universally accepted as unethical. The question gets much more complicated as we get deeper into the issue. If someone says something that is true, but makes another person upset or feel unsafe, is that unethical? It brings us to the questions of what is ethical. Merriam defines ethics as ‘rules of behavior based on ideas about what is morally good and bad’. The problem with this definition is it is extremely vague. Whose set of morals should be the map that determines what is ethical and what isn’t? I believe that we cannot protect citizens from the truth because it may cause them to feel uncomfortable. However, there are other students who believe that we should not be able to say things regardless of their validity because it makes them or others uncomfortable. Thus something I believe to be ethical they believe to be unethical. This conundrum leads us to the crux of the issue. If speech can be considered to be ethical by some and not by others then how do we determine who is correct? It is impossible to say. Therefore, freedom of speech and ethical speech can not be considered to be the same thing, since we all have different points of views and that can
These examples: hate speech, threats, libel or slander, and speech that attempts to incite violence are not protected under the first amendment, but all of these types of speech are close to universally accepted as unethical. The question gets much more complicated as we get deeper into the issue. If someone says something that is true, but makes another person upset or feel unsafe, is that unethical? It brings us to the questions of what is ethical. Merriam defines ethics as ‘rules of behavior based on ideas about what is morally good and bad’. The problem with this definition is it is extremely vague. Whose set of morals should be the map that determines what is ethical and what isn’t? I believe that we cannot protect citizens from the truth because it may cause them to feel uncomfortable. However, there are other students who believe that we should not be able to say things regardless of their validity because it makes them or others uncomfortable. Thus something I believe to be ethical they believe to be unethical. This conundrum leads us to the crux of the issue. If speech can be considered to be ethical by some and not by others then how do we determine who is correct? It is impossible to say. Therefore, freedom of speech and ethical speech can not be considered to be the same thing, since we all have different points of views and that can