A liberal society stands on the proposition that we should all take seriously the idea that we might be wrong. The author makes a persuasive argument for the value of "liberal science" and the idea that conflicting views produce knowledge within society. The answer to bias and prejudice, he argues, is pluralism - not purism.

Tracing attacks on free speech from Plato's Republic to America's campuses and newsrooms, Jonathan Rauch provides an engaging and provocative attack on those who would limit thought by restricting free speech. "Restates the core of our freedom, and demonstrates how great, and disregarded, the peril to it has become".--Chicago Tribune