Areopagitica

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Cover of the publication of the Areopagitica from 1644

Areopagitica; A Speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc'd Printing, To the Parliament of England is a treatise writtenby John Milton in 1644. It is addressed to the English Parliament and opposes the practice of prior censorship (licensing) ,reintroduced by the latter in 1643, which made the approval of state or religious authorities a prerequisite for the printing and publication of a book. The treatise does not argue against re- censorship , i.e. the possible ban on a book after publication. Milton based the script on an ancient model of the same title by Isocrates .

argumentation

Milton's central argument is the negative influence of previous censorship on the spread of the truth. The previous censorship is harmful - as a means of the Catholic Inquisition adopted by Protestantism - by making the dissemination of truth the office of a few people with dubious qualifications and thus, in the worst case, suppresses a good book, thereby withholding truth from people and thus, in Milton's words, commit a crime equivalent to murdering a human. It is also of no use to anyone because even the suppression of real errors is not at all conducive to the truth. Because in an open discussion, according to Milton, the truth is ultimately always superior to error. He even assumes that the truth only asserts and shows itself in this confrontation with error, and then ascribes it a higher value, similar to the virtue that vice knows and yet withstands it. For these reasons, prior censorship is to be rejected.

meaning

Milton's treatise, first published on November 23, 1644, is regarded by many authors as the locus classicus of the arguments against previous censorship. AC Grayling claims, in his book Liberty, which we even think , that Milton planted the germ of British democracy with his treatise and the claim that the masses are more likely to find the truth than few incumbents . The specific intention of the writing was granted success with a delay of 51 years: The English parliament no longer renewed the Licensing Act in 1695 .

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Milton, John. In: Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite. Encyclopædia Britannica, Chicago 2010.
  2. ↑ a b censorship. In: Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite. Encyclopædia Britannica, Chicago 2010.
  3. ^ John Milton: Areopagitica. In: Literature of Renaissance England. In: The Oxford Compendium of Literature.
  4. ↑ Derek Jones: Censorship: A World Encyclopedia . Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, London 2001, ISBN 1-57958-135-8 , pp. 1600 .
  5. ↑ AC Grayling: Freedom We Mean. P. 97.

swell

  • John Milton: Areopagitica. In: Literature of Renaissance England. In: The Oxford Compendium of Literature. Oxford University Press, London / New York / Toronto 1973.
  • AC Grayling: Freedom We Mean. Bertelsmann, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-570-00851-5 .
  • censorship. In: Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite. Encyclopædia Britannica, Chicago 2010.
  • Milton, John. In: Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite. Encyclopædia Britannica, Chicago 2010.

Web links

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