Areopagitica

Description

This beautiful speech, given by John Milton in 1644, argues in favor of the crucial importance of freedom of speech, with regards to the publication of books and literary works. During the 17h century in England, books were subjected to a purging process known as licensing, where they were read and evaluated by state officials, prior to being cleared for publication.

Milton takes on this practice with a fervor and passion seldom seen in older literary works, but also with a carefully woven rhetoric and polemic strategy characteristic of the old British man of letters and his unique style.

The author summons a number of rhetorical strategies and artifices to make his point, including reductio ad absurdum, hyperbole, and an appeal to human morality. His attempt to convince his peers of the essential nature of his argument is admirable to say the least, as well as inspiring, considering the time he lived in, and despite the fact that Milton was in favor of the Commonwealth of England.

His argument basically states that books are extensions of the authors’ ideas and even of their living souls. As such, they should be given the benefit of the doubt, just as individuals were assumed to be inherently harmless, up to the point where they prove this to be untrue. Milton argues that the alternative would not only require an extensive amount of work that no one really is attracted to, but would also devalue the trust and good relations that state leaders would claim to have with their subjects.

The bold arguments and rhetoric in this timeless writing is still just as viable today, as it was more than three centuries ago. Milton’s attempt to secure freedom for his literate peers, as well as himself, is not unlike the struggle that many authors engage in throughout the world today. Anyone supporting freedom of speech and the limitation of censorship will definitely feel inspired when reading Milton’s Areopagitica.
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