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he has travelled far afield intellectually from those early influences and today his writing may be more reflective of the tradition of Durkheim.9 Habermas has also chosen to be involved actively in German and European Union affairs and has eschewed Durkheim’s tenet of being an uninvolved observer.
The sociological arguments concerning free speech will be presented before more traditional legal philosophy is considered. This approach has been taken to demonstrate the ability of the sociological theories to stand independently of philosophical justifications. After a recapitulation of some of the philosophy of free speech, an attempt will be made to amalgamate or at least harmonise the two and show how the constitutive justification for freedom of expression, through the use of sociological theory, becomes distinctly instrumental or results oriented.