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Originally Posted by Quentin
Ah, it could be that particular claim in my article was off-base. If so, though, it is a claim that has been repeated many times in similar ways by speech law scholars who are far more expert than I am. I was relying on their expertise, as I cannot claim to have examined the speech laws of every culture in history.
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See, that's why I rose the objection, not as much because you personally were off base, but because it's this oft repeated actually false statement that many people don't verify because it's oft repeated, in a vicious circle.
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What was the crime for which Socrates was forced to choose between banishment and death? Wasn't it for corrupting his students through his teachings, all of which were communicated via speech? Sounds like a restriction on free speech to me, but maybe I'm wrong about the nature of Socrates' crime, as well.
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As to Socrates, the issue there I tend to think is not as much speech as politics. Athens had just been handed its ass by Sparta, and times were very tough. Socrates appeared as a threat to democracy at a time democracy was hanging by a thread. So they let him have it.
But imo it was a political killing, not a matter of speech any more than Trotsky's headbashing was.