Silence and Freedom
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Seidman, Louis Michael, PUBLISHER: Stanford University Press, "You have the right to remaong>inong> silent." These words, drawn from the Supreme Court's famous decision ong>inong> "Miranda v. Arizona," have had a tremendous impact on the public imagong>inong>ation. But what a strange right this is. Of all the activities that are especially worthy of protection, that defong>inong>e us as human beong>inong>gs, foster human potential, and symbolize human ambition, why privilege silence? This thoughtful and iconoclastic book argues that silence can be an expression of freedom. A defiant silence demonstrates determong>inong>ation, courage, and will. Martyrs from a variety of faith traditions have given up their lives rather than renounce their god. Durong>inong>g the Vietnam era, thousands of anonymous draft resisters refused to take the military oath that was a prelude to participatong>inong>g ong>inong> what they believed was an immoral war. These silences speak to us. They are a manifestation of connection, commitment, and meanong>inong>g. This long>inong>k between silence and freedom is apparent ong>inong> a variety of different ong>contextong>s, which Seidman examong>inong>es ong>inong>dividually, ong>inong>cludong>inong>g silence and apology, silence and self-ong>inong>crimong>inong>ation, silence and ong>inong>terrogation, silence and torture, and silence and death. ong>Inong> discussong>inong>g the problem of apology, for example, the author argues that although apology plays a crucial role ong>inong> maong>inong>taong>inong>ong>inong>g the illusion of human connection, the right to not apologize is equally crucial. Similarly, prohibition agaong>inong>st torture--so promong>inong>ent ong>inong> national debate song>inong>ce the events of Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib--is best understood as a right to silence, essential ong>inong> preservong>inong>g the distong>inong>ction between ong>mong>inong>dong> and body on which human freedom depends. Acquista Ora