Music and Art

This chapter explores the problem of incorporating music and art into a theory of freedom of speech without also including a far wider range of human activities. Constitution writers and scholars of free expression agree that music and art are covered by principles of free expression. Exactly why they are is a bit unclear, but the unclarity has few practical implications. Examination of the coverage of music and art, though, may reveal something about free expression theory. It may show that that theory deals with subjects sharing a family resemblance rather than resting upon ‘foundations’. If so, the examination has significant theoretical implications—and almost no practical ones. Democratic governments rarely attempt to coercively regulate art and music.