Courting the Abyss: Free Speech and the Liberal Tradition

by John Durham Peters

Courting the Abyss updates the philosophy of free expression for a world that is very different from the one in which it originated. The notion that a free society should allow Klansmen, neo-Nazis, sundry extremists, and pornographers to spread their doctrines as freely as everyone else has come increasingly under fire. At the same time, in the wake of 9/11, the Right and the Left continue to wage war over the utility of an absolute vision of free speech in a time of increased national security. Courting the Abyss revisits the tangled history of free speech, finding resolutions to these debates hidden at the very roots of the liberal tradition.

A mesmerizing account of the role of public communication in the Anglo-American world, Courting the Abyss shows that liberty's earliest advocates recognized its fraternal relationship with wickedness and evil. While we understand freedom of expression to mean "anything goes," John Durham Peters asks why its advocates so often celebrate a sojourn in hell and the overcoming of suffering. He directs us to such well-known sources as the prose and poetry of John Milton and the political and philosophical theory of John Locke, Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, and Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., as well as lesser-known sources such as the theology of Paul of Tarsus. In various ways they all, he shows, envisioned an attitude of self-mastery or self-transcendence as a response to the inevitable dangers of free speech, a troubled legacy that continues to inform ruling norms about knowledge, ethical responsibility, and democracy today.

A world of gigabytes, undiminished religious passion, and relentless scientific discovery calls for a fresh account of liberty that recognizes its risk and its splendor. Instead of celebrating noxious doctrine as proof of society's robustness, Courting the Abyss invites us to rethink public communication today by looking more deeply into the unfathomable mystery of liberty and evil.

Genres: Philosophy

316 pages, Hardcover

First published April 15, 2005

About the author

John Durham Peters is professor of English and film and media studies at Yale University. He is the author and editor of many books, including The Marvelous Clouds, Courting the Abyss, and Speaking into the Air, all published by the University of Chicago Press.

Reviews

[Blair Hodges · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Durham Peters is my favorite author. In this examination of freedom of speech Peters takes a more scenic route through subjects like evil, hell, suffering, offense, death, the New Testament, and Stoicism. These in addition to the usual cast of characters in Supreme Court cases, the Enlightenment, Milton, Locke, J.S. Mill, etc. This is a book I'll read again for certain.

[Joseph · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good idea spoiled by dense, murky writing. I'll give Peters credit. He came through with a coherent thesis in the end, and one that was well worth remembering: Ideological extremism is a bad idea. I can also appreciate how he used various earlier authors to support his arguments. Unfortunately, as often happens with such books, Peters seems incapable — or at the very least unwilling — to state his thesis clearly and succinctly.

[Amy Bailey · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing style of this was a little over-my-head, though what I understood I liked the ideas. Of course, now I am tasked with writing a summary paper and I'm not even sure where to start. Thank, Peters...

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again, a soon-to-be classic account of communication in the liberal tradition. For a communication studies theorist, John Peters takes the cake for interesting writing!