Freedom of speech Lecture to a university occupation 1 Favorite 

On November 29th 2011 Proffessor of Philosophy Raymond Geuss relocated a lecture he was scheduled to give to an occupied lecture hall on the campus of cambridge university.

The occupation was in protest agains cuts in the education budget and the raising of the cap in fees. It had begun by interrupting a speech David Willetts the minister for higher education with written response which was delivered using the peoples mic and caused David Willetts to leave without completing his address and went on to occupy the building. The action was widely condemned and labelled as preventing the freedom of speech.

Raymond Geuss's lecture exclusively discussed freedom of speech as actively applied to the situation which begun the occupation. It argued that the freedom of speech was a more complex one than simply wether or not someone should be allowed to speak their mind. It introduced concepts of platform and privilege which allowed people in privileged positions to claim the right of freedom of speech to dominate the discourse. The lecture was not only in academically in support of the occupation but in happening within the occupied space it was supportive as an action itself fulfilling one of the occupations goals in creating a 'free university' in which information would be openly shared rather than bought and sold.