Areopagitica
This written speech to Parliament argues against requiring official approval before books can be printed. Milton recalls meeting Galileo in Italy and links his confinement to the suppression of ideas.
68 pages 1h 20m reading time
- One of the most famous defenses of free speech and a free press ever written in English.
- Argues that truth grows stronger when it is tested against error in open debate, so readers should be trusted to judge books for themselves.
- Argues that a virtue that has never faced temptation is not real virtue, so shielding people from bad ideas does not make them good.
- Its arguments were later drawn on by people fighting to protect press freedom in Britain and America, and it is still cited in debates over the right to publish.
- Lines from it, such as "Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties," are still quoted as rallying cries for free expression.
Printed without permission
It came out without the government license it argued against, and with no printer's name on it.
Sparked by his divorce pamphlets
Milton wrote it after his unlicensed pamphlets defending divorce drew angry attacks and calls for punishment.
Named after an ancient speech
Its title echoes a speech by the Greek speaker Isocrates to Athens' high council, which met on the Areopagus hill.
Ignored in its own time
Parliament did not change the law, and the work drew little public response when it first appeared.
Its author later checked newsbooks
A few years later, Milton himself served as an official approving news pamphlets before they were printed.