Burke and Bulverism

MOJ reader Jonathan Watson had these thoughtful comments on the Campell essay on Burke v. Crow that I excerpted:

     I think that Ms. Campbell's final statement does not draw a careful enough line among competing "free speech" doctrines. There is a certain minimal guarantee of free speech set forth in the Constitution.  Aside from whether the current legal thought on that guarantee is overbroad or overly-restrictive, there is no guarantee set out that anyone need listen to what one says, respect the content of what one says, or even avoid saying that what one says is motivated by an impermissible set of norms. The guarantee only prevents the state, state-related actors, or even private actors, from taking certain actions against one in regard to what or how one engages in speech.

Where Ms. Campbell seems to be aiming, and what needs better definition, is the implications for the philosophical marketplace of ideas, the naked public square. C.S. Lewis described the issue as one of bulverism, where one need not argue that one's opponent is wrong - just assume that he is wrong, and then spend the rest of the time showing how he came to be wrong. What has occurred with Archbishop Burke, and to a greater or lesser extent, to any Christian apologist or thinker, is precisely this. The hows of our time include arguments by anyone who embodies or holds a normative set of commitments which purport to be simultaneously religiously informed and true for all of humanity. So, then, if such an individual's conclusion (cutting Medicare is wrong) agrees with secular conclusions, there is no need to reach the second part of Lewis's bulverism. However, if the individual's conclusion disagrees with secular thought (Sen. Kerry's position on abortion is wrong), then the individual is simply assumed to be wrong because of the religious commitment, without need for further definition or argument. This has serious implications not for the legal doctrine of free speech, but for the philosophical marketplace of ideas, and for society at large.