Peace, order, and good government.
There's something to it. More people will be able to express themselves fully and openly if a tiny minority isn't screaming, throwing excrement, and/or threatening violence.
There's something to it. More people will be able to express themselves fully and openly if a tiny minority isn't screaming, throwing excrement, and/or threatening violence.
That said, I don't think free speech is a utilitarian principle (greatest good for the greatest number) but rather a deontological one, that it is wrong to muzzle an individuals right to express themselves as a first order effect. The author's argument describes second or nth order effects.