In \;Freedom of Expression as Self-Restraint\, Matthew Kramer rigorously expounds the principle of freedom of expression and provides a novel justificatory foundation for it. Under that principle\, a system of governance in any society can legitimately prohibit various modes of communication but cannot ever legitimately prohibit them qua modes of communication. As the book argues\, such a principle is absolute in that it is exceptionless\; it imposes general duties that are binding always and everywhere on every system of governance.
\nIn addition to injecting a new level of philosophical sophistication into the debates over these matters\, the book supplies a novel justification for the principle of freedom of expression. It ties that principle to an ideal of governmental self-restraint\, and it shows how that ideal connects to the paramount moral responsibility of every system of governance: the responsibility to bring about the political and social and economic conditions under which every member of a society can be warranted in harboring an ample sense of self-respect. In short\, compliance by a system of governance with the principle of freedom of expression is integral to the fulfillment of that paramount responsibility.
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