ABSTRACT
This chapter examines what can be said for and against hate speech law from the perspective of the human goods or values of personal development. It looks at intellectual and epistemic development, specifically the discovery of truth and the acquisition of knowledge. It considers two broader aspects of personal development: namely, self-realization and human excellence. It is worth reflecting for a moment on a different argument that focuses on the discovery of truths about freedom of expression itself and other fundamentals of justice. The first aspect of self-realization is self-fulfillment, which is nothing less than the fulsome development of our potential capacities as human beings. The chapter focuses on the idea of personal development through the cultivation of human excellence, and on the idea that the proper role of lawmakers and legal professions is not simply to exemplify aspects of human excellence in their decision-making but also to create laws that promote aspects of human excellence among the population.
