Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Breakdown of Civic Virtues and the Problem of Hate Speech: Is There Wisdom in Freedom of Speech?

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Applying Wisdom to Contemporary World Problems

  • 1192 Accesses

Abstract

When certain groups in society are disparaged and derogated verbally, aggression and violence against the groups can follow. When public figures and political leaders engage in this kind of discourse, there is implicit social licensing of aggressive and violent behavior against these groups. Moreover, the creation of false equivalence of acts and statements and disputing or disregarding facts in discourse and discussion degrades all aspects of civil deliberation and intercourse. The civic virtues of civility, compassion, and fairness are critical to the stability of a peaceful and just society. However, these virtues are eroded by the use of hate speech, group derogation, and verbal aggression. Words matter, and the way language is used has an impact on thought and behavior, whether it is speech from the bully pulpit to the wording of law and policy to the discussion of enforcement of law and policy and to interpretation of the legal foundations of civil society. Many countries have enacted laws that restrict or prohibit calls for violence against groups and hate speech (e.g., France, Germany). Other countries protect such speech (e.g., United States). In the United States, there has been a growing dispute about protected speech and the dispute has recently been used to justify explicitly discriminatory behavior. Wisdom is typically viewed as a manifestation of individual human choice, thought, or action. But it is possible to view law and policy as wiser as well. Is the legal restriction of hate speech wiser than its protection? Or is there wisdom in allowing freedom of expression?

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

eBook
USD 19.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 29.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ardelt, M., Achenbaum, W. A., & Oh, H. (2013). The paradoxical nature of personal wisdom and its relation to human development in the reflective, cognitive, and affective domains. In M. Ferrari & N. M. Weststrate (Eds.), The scientific study of personal wisdom (pp. 265–295). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baltes, P. B., & Smith, J. (1990). Toward a psychology of wisdom and its ontogenesis. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.), Wisdom: Its nature, origins, and development (pp. 87–120). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Battaly, H. (2015). Pluralistic virtues. In M. Alfano (Ed.), Current controversies in virtue theory (pp. 7–22). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Binet, A., & Simon, T. (1916). The development of intelligence in children (pp. 42–43). Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Condon, P., Desbordes, G., Miller, W. B., & DeSteno, D. (2013). Meditation increases compassionate responses to suffering. Psychological Science, 24, 2125–2127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Costa, A., Foucart, A., Hayakawa, S., Aparici, M., Apesteguia, J., Heafner, J., … Sigman, M. (2014). Your morals depend on language. PLoS ONE, 9(4), e94842.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Decety, J., Skelly, L. R., & Kiehl, K. A. (2013). Brain response to empathy-eliciting scenarios in incarcerated individuals with psychopathy. JAMA Psychiatry, 70, 638–645.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Devine, P. G., Forscher, P. S., Austin, A. J., & Cox, W. T. L. (2012). Long-term reduction in implicit race bias: A prejudice habit-breaking intervention. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48, 1267–1278.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Effron, D. A., Miller, D. T., & Monin, B. (2012). Inventing racist roads not taken: The licensing effects of immoral counterfactual behaviors. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 103, 916–922.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(2), 377–389.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferrari, M., & Weststrate, N. M. (Eds.). (2013). The scientific study of personal wisdom. New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forscher, P. S., Mitamura, C., Dix, E. L., Cox, W. T. L., & Devine, P. G. (2017). Breaking the prejudice habit: Mechanisms, timecourse, and longevity. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 72, 133–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gardner, H. (1985). The mind’s new science: A history of the cognitive revolution. New York, NY, US: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gerber, A. S., Green, D. P., & Latimer, C. W. (2008). Social pressure and voter turnout: Evidence from a large-scale field experiment. American Political Science Review, 102, 33–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glück, J., & Bluck, S. (2013). The more life experience model: A theory of the development of personal wisdom. In M. Ferrari & N. Weststrate (Eds.), The scientific study of personal wisdom (pp. 75–98). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goff, P. A., Eberhardt, J. L., Williams, M. J., & Jackson, M. C. (2008). Not yet human: Implicit knowledge, historical dehumanization, and contemporary consequences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 94, 292–306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gordon, J. (1997). John Stuart Mill and the “marketplace of ideas”. Social Theory and Practice, 23, 235–249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gottman, J. M. (1994). What predicts divorce? The relationship between marital processes and marital outcomes. Hillsdale, NJ, US: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Groenendyk, E. W., & Banks, A. J. (2014). Emotional rescue: How affect helps partisans overcome collective action problems. Political Psychology, 35, 359–378.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gross, J. J. (1998). The emerging field of emotion regulation: An integrative review. Review of General Psychology, 2, 271–299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grossmann, I., Sahdra, B. K., & Ciarrochi, J. (2016). A heart and a mind: Self-distancing facilitates the association between heart rate variability, and wise reasoning. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 08 April 2016. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2016.00068.

  • Grossmann, I. (2017). Wisdom in context. Perspectives in Psychological Science, 12, 233–257.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grossmann, I., & Kross, E. (2014). Exploring Solomon’s paradox: Self-distancing eliminates the self-other asymmetry in wise reasoning about close relationships in younger and older adults. Psychological Science, 25, 1571–1580. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797614535400.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grossmann, I., Na, J., Varnum, M. E. W., Kitayama, S., & Nisbett, R. E. (2012). A route to well-being: Intelligence versus wise reasoning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 142, 944–953.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hartzell, J. F., Davis, B., Melcher, D., Miceli, G., Jovicich, J., Nath, T., … Hasson, U. (2016). Brains of verbal memory specialists show anatomical differences in language, memory and visual systems. NeuroImage, 131, 181–192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayakawa, S., Costa, A., Foucart, A., & Keysar, B. (2016). Using a foreign language changes our choices. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 20, 791–793.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayakawa, S., Lau, K. Y. B., Holtzmann, S., Costa, A., & Keysar, B. (2017). On the reliability of the foreign language effect on risk-taking. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayakawa, S., Tannenbaum, D., Costa, A., Corey, J. D., Keysar, B. (2017). Thinking more or feeling less? Explaining the foreign-language effect on moral judgment. Psychological Science, 1–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hodson, G., & MacInnis, C. C. (2016). Derogating humor as a delegitimization strategy in intergroup contexts. Translational Issues in Psychological Science, 2, 63–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hutchins, E. (1995). Cognition in the wild. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Iyer, A., Schmader, T., & Lickel, B. (2007). Why individuals protest the perceived transgressions of their country: The role of anger, shame, and guilt. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 33, 572–587.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs, L., Cook, F. L., & Carpini, M. X. D. (2009). Talking together: Public deliberation and political participation in America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan, J. (2016). The gratitude diaries: How a year looking on the bright side can transform your life. New York: Dutton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kross, E., Berman, M., Mischel, W., Smith, E. E., & Wager, T. D. (2011). Social rejection shares somatosensory representations with physical pain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108, 6270–6275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leiberg, S., Klimecki, O., & Singer, T. (2011). Short-term compassion training increases prosocial behavior in a newly developed prosocial game. PLOS One, 6, e17798.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levitsky, S., & Ziblatt, D. (2018). How democracies die. New York: Crown.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, A. (2007). Freedom for the thought we hate: A biography of the first amendment. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Losada, M., & Heaphy, E. (2004). The role of positivity and connectivity in the performance of business teams: A nonlinear dynamics model. American Behavioral Scientist, 47, 740–765.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meeks, T. W., & Jeste, D. W. (2009). Neurobiology of wisdom: A literature overview. Archives of General Psychiatry, 66, 355–365.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mekawi, Y., Bresin, K., & Hunter, C. D. (2016). White fear, dehumanization, and low empathy: Lethal combinations for shooting biases. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 22, 322–332.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, D. T., & Effron, D. A. (2010). Psychological license: When it is needed and how it functions. In M. P. Zanna & J. M. Olson (Eds.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 43, pp. 115–155). San Diego, CA: Elsevier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Orwell, G. (2013/1946). Politics and the English language. New York: Penguin Classics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rawls, J. (1993). Political liberalism. New York: Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Richter, M., Eck, J., Straube, T., Miltner, W. H. R., & Weiss, T. (2010). Do words hurt? Brain activation during explicit and implicit processing of pain words. Pain, 148, 198–205.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, R. C. (2015). How virtue contributes to flourishing. In M. Alfano (Ed.), Current controversies in virtue theory (pp. 36–49). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roid, G. (2003). Stanford-Binet (5th ed.). Itasca, IL: Riverside.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenfeld, S. (2011). Common sense: A political history. Cambridge: Harvard.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Rumelhart, D., & McClelland, J. (1986). Parallel distributed processing (Vol. I). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Runciman, D. (2018). How democracy ends. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Russell, D. C. (2015). Aristotle on cultivating virtue. In N. E. Snow (Ed.), Cultivating virtue: Perspectives from philosophy, theology, and psychology (pp. 17–48). Oxford: Oxford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Snow, N. (2010). Virtue as social intelligence: An empirically grounded theory. New York: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Spearman, C. (1904). “General intelligence”, objectively determined and measured. The American Journal of Psychology, 15, 201–292.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Staudinger, U. M., & Baltes, P. B. (1996). Interactive minds: A facilitative setting for wisdom-related performance? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 746–762. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.71.4.746.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Staudinger, U. M., & Glück, J. (2011). Psychological wisdom research: Commonalities and differences in a growing field. Annual Review of Psychology, 62, 215–241.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Staudinger, U. M., Smith, J., & Baltes, P. B. (1992). Wisdom-related knowledge in a life review task: Age differences and the role of professional specialization. Psychology and Aging, 7, 271–281.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sternberg, R. J. (1998). A balance theory of wisdom. Review of General Psychology, 2, 347–365.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sternberg, R. J. (Ed.). (2000). Handbook of intelligence. New York, USA: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sternberg, R. J. (2013). Personal wisdom in the balance. In M. Ferrari & N. M. Weststrate (Eds.), The scientific study of personal wisdom (pp. 53–74). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sternberg, R. J., & Glück, J. (Eds.). (2019). The Cambridge handbook of wisdom. Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stone, G. R. (1994). Hate speech and the U.S Constitution. East European Constitutional Review, 3, 78–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Swannell, E. R., Brown, C. A., Jones, A. K. P., & Brown, R. J. (2016). Some words hurt more than others: Semantic activation of pain concepts in memory and subsequent experiences of pain. The Journal of Pain, 17, 336–349.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thaler, R. H., & Sunstein, C. (2008). Nudge. Yale: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thurstone, L. L. (1938). Primary mental abilities. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tiberius, V. (2008). The reflective life: Living wisely with our limits. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Tiberius, V. (2013). In defense of reflection. Philosophical Issues, 23, 223–243.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Zyl, L. (2015). Against radical pluralism. In M. Alfano (Ed.), Current controversies in virtue theory (pp. 22–34). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waldron, J. (2012). The harm in hate speech. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Webb, T. L., Miles, E., & Sheeran, P. (2012). Dealing with feeling: A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of strategies derived from the process model of emotion regulation. Psychological Bulletin, 138, 775–808.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Webster, J. D. (2007). Measuring the character strength of wisdom. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 65, 163–183.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, P. B., Mangelsdorf, H. H., Kontra, C., Nusbaum, H. C., & Hoeckner, B. (2016). The relationship between mental and somatic practices and wisdom. PLOS One, 11, e0149369.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, P. B., Poljacik, G., Decety, J., & Nusbaum, H. C. (2017). Loving-kindness language exposure leads to changes in sensitivity to imagined pain. The Journal of Positive Psychology. Published online 10 April, https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2017.1315648.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, J. G., & Kelling, G. L. (1982). Broken windows: The police and neighborhood safety. The Atlantic Monthly, 249, 29–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wisdom Research. (2011). The University of Chicago. http://wisdomcenter.uchicago.edu/Themes/basic/Arete/ResearchGrants.aspx. Updated February 10, 2015. Accessed February 20, 2014.

  • Zimbardo, P. G. (1969). The human choice: Individuation, reason, and order versus de individuation, impulse, and chaos. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, 17, 237–307.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Preparation of this chapter was supported by the John Templeton Foundation and the University of Chicago Center for Practical Wisdom.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Center for Practical Wisdom, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Howard C. Nusbaum

Authors
  1. Howard C. Nusbaum
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Howard C. Nusbaum .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Development, College of Human Ecology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

    Robert J. Sternberg

  2. Center for Practical Wisdom, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Howard C. Nusbaum

  3. Department of Psychology, University of Klagenfurt, Klagenfurt, Austria

    Judith Glück

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Nusbaum, H.C. (2019). The Breakdown of Civic Virtues and the Problem of Hate Speech: Is There Wisdom in Freedom of Speech?. In: Sternberg, R., Nusbaum, H., Glück, J. (eds) Applying Wisdom to Contemporary World Problems. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20287-3_5

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation