Parrhesia & Doing Philosophy with Children

Maria daVenza Tillmanns considers the need for freedom of speech for children.

- Maria daVenza Tillmanns

‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press…’

(The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, 1787)

The term parrhesia first appeared in Greek literature in the Fifth Century BC. It took on many different meanings, but generally, it referred to the notion of speaking freely and frankly. The most famous example of frank speech in ancient Greece is perhaps when Alexander the Great visited Diogenes of Sinope and asked him what he wanted, wishing to grant him a favour. Diogenes replies by asking him to move a little to the side, in order to stop blocking his sunlight. More broadly, parrhesia refers to speaking one’s own sense of truth in the face of power. As (possibly) Voltaire so poignantly states: “If you want to know who controls you, look at who you are not allowed to criticize.” In other words, it isn’t for you to question or criticize those who have power over you. In Discourse and Truth: The Problematization of Parrhesia (1983), Michel Foucault says that “parrhesia is a verbal activity in which a speaker expresses his personal relationship to truth for which he is willing to risk his life because he recognizes truth-telling as a duty to improve or help other people (as well as himself). In parrhesia, the speaker uses his freedom and chooses frankness instead of persuasion, truth instead of falsehood or silence, the risk of death instead of life and security, criticism instead of flattery, and moral duty instead of self-interest and moral apathy” (p.5).