These are Articles 10 and 11 from the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, issued by the French National Assembly in August of 1789. This was just a few months into the French Revolution. The National Assembly, having formed out of the old Third Estate, had resolved to make France into a constitutional monarchy. Before doing this, however, they issued the Declaration. This document was a shortlist of the ideas usually described as "liberal." Many were enshrined in the English Bill of Rights from the late seventeenth century as well as in the American Declaration of Independence and various bills of rights passed at the state level. The Bill of Rights to the United States Constitution had not yet been ratified, but French intellectuals were keenly aware of American political developments.
Taken together, Articles 10 and 11 are roughly similar to the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights. Article 10 says that no person should be "disquieted" on account of their views. To "disquiet" someone is to bother them or make them uncomfortable, so Article 10 is essentially stating freedom of conscience as a principle. Moreover, the Article specifically includes religious views as worthy of protection, so it is essentially establishing freedom of religion. Religious establishment, and the persecution of religious minorities, was a cornerstone of the Bourbon regime that the authors of the Declaration were seeking to reform or even overthrow.
Along similar lines, Article 11 protects against the undue restriction of ideas and opinions. It is basically establishing the freedoms of the press and of everday speech we associate with the First Amendment. "Every citizen," this article states, "may speak, write, and print with freedom" within certain constraints. What is interesting about these two articles is that both explicitly state that these rights are not absolute. The freedoms protected in Article 10 can be enjoyed provided that "their manifestation does not disturb the public order established by law." Article 11 allows for the punishment of people if they "abuse" the right to express their ideas. In short, both articles state that one's rights can be enjoyed to the extent that they do not interfere with others' rights.
https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/rightsof.asp
Sunday, October 16, 2016
Can I please get an analysis of the following: 10. No one shall be disquieted on account of his opinions, including his religious views, provided their manifestation does not disturb the public order established by law. 11. The free communication of ideas and opinions is one of the most precious of the rights of man. Every citizen may, accordingly, speak, write, and print with freedom, but shall be responsible for such abuses of this freedom as shall be defined by law.
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