Abstract

Can a person rely on her right to freedom of speech when she is lying in public? First of all, the author defends the thesis that freedom of speech is constrained by fundamental norms of speech. His next step is to analyse the claim – famously made by Kant – that the prohibition against lying fulfills the criteria of such a norm. This view has at least two problems: The epistemic problem that a lie can never be proven without a doubt, and the moral one that there are cases, both real and hypothetical, in which an act of lying seems to be justified or even required. The author concludes that, on the one hand, lying is sometimes justifiable and compatible with freedom of speech. On the other hand, losing respect for honesty altogether leads to negative consequences for any society.