Date: Fri, 5 Mar 1999 15:13:06 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Re: MB: Freedom and Speech


Blanchot prefers to think in term of 'rights' than in terms of 'duty'
(which is unthinking and reminds one of WW II) but I can't remember where
he said this.  Certain defenses of rights of speech in these flame wars
even may strike one as dutiful rather than thinking.

Tom Wall



>Hoping to spin gold from straw ...
>
>        Although they are very complex, when I think of "freedom" and of
>"speech," I have more or less a good idea of how these
>notions may be understood within the context of Blanchot's thought.  However,
>I must admit that the notion of "freedom
>of speech" is more difficult for me to understand.  Perhaps I am somewhat a
>victim of what I've been reading most
>recently (La littérature et le droit =E0 la mort), but it strikes me that
>"freedom of speech" is not something Blanchot
>would simply and straightforwardly advocate.  Yet, one senses in his more
>recent essays and 'statements' that there is
>in Blanchot a quite formal subscription to rights.  Any insights out there?
>
>Regards,
>Reg