Phi 112, Ethical Analysis Paper: Freedom of Speech
EAP 9: Freedom of Speech
PHI 112-001
1988 was a great year for Larry Flynt, the publisher of a highly criticized magazine called, “Hustler.” This magazine was unlike any of its predictors, such as Playboy. While sexuality was on the rise, so were “new” ways to do it. Hustlers’ publisher, Larry Flynt was merely exposing what people were already doing. This does not mean that everyone had the same sexual desires as everyone else, but he did become popularized by certain “hardcore” sexually active persons. While he became a hero amongst some, there seems to have been more against what Flynt was doing. It has been documented that even some of his staff did not agree, saying that he was making men out to be rapists, and making comparisons to men being like “stud bulls,” wanting to have sex with “everything in sight.” Even though there was a lot of controversy encompassing the Flynt case, from extreme right-wingers to the general public, the U.S. Supreme Courts ruled that Larry Flynt had the right to freedom of speech through the medium of his magazine. Radical feminist, Catherine MacKinnon went as far to say that it was the libertarians fault, placing the needs of freedom of speech over woman’s well-being. She argued that pornography encroached on women’s freedom and that pornography had nothing to do with freedom of speech. To those that are on a more neutral ground with the subject, when asked if woman are subordinated or harmed in some way do to pornography, and if men are sexually violent, those neutral parties would most likely say no. Many people look and read magazines like Hustler and Playboy for entertainment value. Some may even say that they have learned a great deal about sex by reading them, often because their own parents were too embarrassed to talk to them about sex at a younger age. Jerry Falwell, who strongly opposed Flynt once said after the Supreme Court ruling, “Larry didn’t save the First Amendment. The First Amendment saved him.”
PHI 112-001
1988 was a great year for Larry Flynt, the publisher of a highly criticized magazine called, “Hustler.” This magazine was unlike any of its predictors, such as Playboy. While sexuality was on the rise, so were “new” ways to do it. Hustlers’ publisher, Larry Flynt was merely exposing what people were already doing. This does not mean that everyone had the same sexual desires as everyone else, but he did become popularized by certain “hardcore” sexually active persons. While he became a hero amongst some, there seems to have been more against what Flynt was doing. It has been documented that even some of his staff did not agree, saying that he was making men out to be rapists, and making comparisons to men being like “stud bulls,” wanting to have sex with “everything in sight.” Even though there was a lot of controversy encompassing the Flynt case, from extreme right-wingers to the general public, the U.S. Supreme Courts ruled that Larry Flynt had the right to freedom of speech through the medium of his magazine. Radical feminist, Catherine MacKinnon went as far to say that it was the libertarians fault, placing the needs of freedom of speech over woman’s well-being. She argued that pornography encroached on women’s freedom and that pornography had nothing to do with freedom of speech. To those that are on a more neutral ground with the subject, when asked if woman are subordinated or harmed in some way do to pornography, and if men are sexually violent, those neutral parties would most likely say no. Many people look and read magazines like Hustler and Playboy for entertainment value. Some may even say that they have learned a great deal about sex by reading them, often because their own parents were too embarrassed to talk to them about sex at a younger age. Jerry Falwell, who strongly opposed Flynt once said after the Supreme Court ruling, “Larry didn’t save the First Amendment. The First Amendment saved him.”