“Who I am” and the Problem of Offense

By Piers Benn

I recently asked a class of American students whether a man should be allowed to strut up and down a busy high street, dressed in a Nazi uniform. I knew I was taking a slight risk — some of them might have thought I was making light of the evils of Nazism by posing the question in a neutral tone of voice, as if it wasn’t obvious that the sight of such a thing would be repellent. But…