Areopagitica by John Milton

"Areopagitica" by John Milton is a prose polemic published in 1644 opposing government censorship of printed works. Written during the English Civil War, this impassioned defense challenges Parliament's licensing order requiring pre-publication approval. Milton argues that free access to all ideas—even controversial ones—allows individuals to exercise reason and judgment. Drawing on biblical and classical references, he contends that truth emerges through open discussion rather than state control. This work became one of history's most influential arguments for freedom of speech and expression. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

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About this eBook

Author Milton, John, 1608-1674
Title Areopagitica
A Speech for the Liberty of Unlicensed Printing to the Parliament of England
Note Wikipedia page about this book: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Areopagitica
Credits Produced by Judith Boss and David Widger
Reading Level Reading ease score: 43.6 (College-level). Difficult to read.
Language English
LoC Class K: Law in general, Comparative and uniform law, Jurisprudence
LoC Class Z: Bibliography, Library science
Subject Freedom of the press -- Early works to 1800
Category Text
eBook-No. 608
Release Date
Last Update Feb 23, 2013
Copyright Public domain in the USA.
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