One of the questions that has most bothered me in my reflections on culture is the question of kitsch. Just what is it? When did it begin? And why?
Roger ScrutonRead
The robust English view used to be that the correct response to offensive words is to ignore them, or to answer them with a rebuke. If you invoke the law at all, it should be to protect the one who gives the offence, and not the one who takes it. Now, it seems, it is all the other way round.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote discusses a shift in societal attitudes towards handling offensive speech, emphasizing a traditional view of response versus a modern tendency to protect the offended.
Roger Scruton reflects on the changing social norms regarding the response to offensive speech. He suggests that the previous belief held that one should either ignore hurtful words or respond with a rebuttal, and that the law should prioritize protecting the speaker of the offensive words rather than the person offended. However, he notes a contemporary reversal where protection now seems to favor the feelings of the offended rather than the freedom of expression of the offender, indicating a significant cultural shift in the handling of offense.
Themes
OffenseFreedomSpeechLawResponse
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on free speech, this quote can highlight the balance between freedom of expression and societal sensitivities.
More from Roger Scruton
All quotes →There are big questions science doesn't answer, such as why is there something rather than nothing? There can't be a scientific answer to that because it's the answer that precedes science.
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18th century opera is packed with emotion, but contains not a trace of kitsch. Only with the 'thees' and 'thous' of Victorian poetry does the disease begin to grow in our poetic tradition.
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For two centuries the English countryside has been an icon of national identity and the loved reminder of our island home. Yet the government is bent on littering the hills with wind turbines and the valleys with high speed railways.
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You cannot own a symphony or a novel in the way you can own a Damien Hirst. As a result there are far fewer fake symphonies or fake novels than there are fake works of visual art.
Roger ScrutonRead
For many artists and critics, beauty is a discredited idea. It denotes the saccharine sylvan scenes and cheesy melodies that appealed to Granny.
Roger ScrutonRead
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