Which is the best standard-form representation of the following Argument from Principle?
Charles Murray is notorious for his view, explained in his 1994 book The Bell Curve, that different racial groups are genetically disposed to have different levels of intelligence, and that, on average, Black people are inherently less intelligent than White and Asian people. Although the "science" of the book has been widely and repeatedly debunked, many white supremacists remain devoted fans of the The Bell Curve.
In 2017, Charles Murray gave a talk on an unrelated topic at Middlebury College. Soon after he started, students in the audience began shouting over top of him, which made it impossible for the audience to hear him and forced him to stop speaking. Afterwards, student leaders of the protest said that they believed it was important to shut down the speech, to avoid giving him a platform from which to spread bigoted views.
Murray's case raises a challenging question: is it morally right to prevent a speaker from speaking, on the grounds that they hold bigoted views?
At least in Murray's case, the answer is "No, it is not morally right." We should respond to the speech of others in a way that best helps the audience form true beliefs.
Silencing Charles Murray's speech at Middlebury didn't do that. Allowing him to speak, and then vigorously and rigorously critiquing his views would have been the morally better strategy. After all, vigorously critiquing his views would help the audience understand why his views are mistaken, while shutting down his speech only entrenches his supporters in their mistaken beliefs. It was wrong for Middleburry students to shut down Murray's talk.
A) 1) Silencing Charles Murray does not best help the audience form true beliefs.
2) Students should not silence Charles Murray.
So, we should respond to others' speech in a way that best helps the audience form true beliefs.
B) 1) Allowing Charles Murray to speak, and then vigorously and rigorously critiquing his views is the best strategy.
2) Silencing Charles Murray doesn't help the audience form true beliefs. So, students shouldn't silence Charles Murray.
C) 1) Shutting down Charles Murray's speech only entrenches his supporters.
2) Letting Charles Murray speak and then vigorously critiquing his views would help the audience understand why they are mistaken.
So, it was not morally right for students to shut down Charles Murray's speech.
D) 1) We should respond to the speech of others in a way that best helps the audience form true beliefs.
2) Students silencing Charles Murray does not best help the audience form true beliefs.
So, students should not silence Charles Murray.
Correct Answer:
Verified
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