“Seafood’s points get to thoughtful, dense provocations.” —Kirkus Testimonials

From celebrated public intellectual and NY Occasions bestselling author, Stanley Fish, comes an urgent and sharply observed look at perhaps one of the most hotly debated issues of our time: freedom of talk.

So how exactly does the Initial Amendment actually work? Could it be a process or a value? What’s hate speech and really should it continually be prohibited? Are we absolve to declare our spiritual beliefs in the public square? What function, if any, should about The First: How exactly to CONSIDER Hate Conversation, Campus Speech, Spiritual Speech, Fake Information, Post-Truth, and Donald Trump companies like Facebook play in policing the exchange of thoughts, tips, and opinions?

With clarity and power, Stanley Fish, “America’s most famous professor” (BookPage), explores these complex questions in The First. In the rise of fake news, to the role of tech businesses in monitoring content (like the President’s tweets), to Colin Kaepernick’s kneeling protest, First Amendment controversies continue steadily to dominate the news cycle. Across America, university campus administrators are being forced to balance free speech against needs for safe areas and result in warnings.

Ultimately, Fish argues, freedom of speech is a double-edged concept; it frees us from constraints, but it also frees us to state and do horrible issues. Urgent and controversial, The foremost is certain to ruffle feathers, spark dialogue, and sparkle new light using one of America’s most valued—and debated—constitutional rights.