Before Substack, before email there was a man in a powdered wig writing letters at a furious pace. François Marie Arouet, better known as Voltaire, churned out more than 20,000 letters during his lifetime. That’s not correspondence. That’s a content empire. Most people picture Voltaire hunched over philosophy books or scribbling plays by candlelight. But […]
The saying often attributed to Voltaire—“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”—has become a cornerstone of Western thought on free expression. Although Voltaire never actually wrote these words, they encapsulate an Enlightenment ideal that has influenced constitutional frameworks, particularly in Europe and North America.
Exporting Enlightenment: Why Voltaire’s Free Speech Vision Doesn’t Translate Globally Read More »