Hello and welcome to the Discourse. John Milton wrote a strong polemic in 1644 that continues to be one of the most influential philosophical documents in support of the liberty of the press and freedom of speech and expression.
The title of this polemic was Areopagitica; A speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc'd Printing, to the Parlament of England. John Milton wrote it while opposing licensing and censorship.
Milton was a supporter of Presbyterian against the Royalists and he supported the abolition of Charle’s Ist’ Star Chamber by Presbyterians in 1641. After that, the Presbyterians gained power in the Parliament and they were no longer oppressed and hence, they decided to curb the freedom of the press again as they were worried that the works supporting the King may weaken their position. In addition, the Parliamentarians also wanted to keep control over radical Presbyterians and independents. As a result, Parliament passed the Licensing Order of 1643. This Licensing Order reintroduced almost all the stringent regulations on the press that were imposed by the Star Chamber. However, now the licensing power was in the hands of Parliamentarians.
Despite being an ardent supporter of Presbyterians against the Monarchy, Milton took a stand and chose to oppose the Licensing Order of 1643. He already had confronted Puritans over the issue of Divorce during the time when he wrote the four Doctrines on Divorce. He had suffered the ill effects of censorship and thus he offered his philosophical and reason-based opposition to the Licensing Order of 1643.
While the title of this work suggests that it was a speech that John Milton presented to the Parliament of England, it was not a speech. Rather, Milton printed pamphlets of this work and distributed them openly while directly confronting the Licensing Order according to which every author was required to get a pre-publication license before publishing their work.
Summary
Milton begins Aeropagitica by complimenting the Parliament for overcoming the tyranny of Charles Ist. Then he defines the benefits of constructive criticism over false flattery. He then wishes the Parliament to follow the voice of reason and to support truth and upright judgment.
Milton then discusses the history of the licensing system. He mentions that the ancient civilizations including Greeks and Romans never practiced licensing. He mentions that there were cases when blasphemous or libelous books were burnt and their authors were punished but that happened only after the production of such texts when these were rejected, not before it. He further sheds light on the history of licensing of the press by mentioning that the first time licensing was used to curb the freedom of speech and expression was by Catholics during the periods of Inquisition.
English Parliament was full of prominent Protestants and there were strong conflicts between Catholics and Protestants in England. Milton pointed out how the Catholic Popes turned into licensing tyrants during the inquisition. He mentioned how heretical books were prohibited. He also mentioned how not only heretical but books unfavorable to friars were also prohibited and hence, there could be no positive criticism.
Milton then discusses the objective of the Licensing Order and how it will fail to achieve the objective. He says that the order is meant to stop the availability of bad books but even the Bible had been historically limited and censored to readers for containing offensive descriptions of blasphemy and wicked men. He further says that even if such books are censored to restrict the spread of ‘infection,’ those men who have already read them will continue to spread the message through other recreational means. Hence, the order will prove to be futile. Milton further points out that it will require huge manpower to correctly check every book before it is published that it will contain no offensive message. Milton suggests that better would be to let any book be published and if the readers point out and complain about the content of that book, then it can be prohibited and its copy can be destroyed. He says that licensing books cannot possibly prevent societal corruption as there will be other means to spread the same infection. "If we think to regulate printing, thereby to rectifie manners, we must regulate all recreations and pastimes, all that is delightful to man".
Milton points out that even if there are men capable to check and make judgments about censoring a book even before it is published, they may commit mistakes. Furthermore, he points out that the basis of censoring will remain subjective and arbitrary judgment of the licenser. He says that it will be dishonoring and derogatory to those authors who produce their works with genuinely good intentions.
Milton says that this Licensing Order is akin to believing that only the Government has a monopoly over truth and understanding which is not a good sign for the future of England. He says that this Licensing Order will promote conformity and laziness. He says that such an order will hinder the discovery and progress of truth by governmental biases and prejudices. He suggests that there will always be more truth to be found and revealed than we already know. Milton says that if there is God’s plan, governmental licensing order will interrupt it as it is a power to silence others through whom God may suggest new ways.
In this essay, Milton strongly opposed the Licensing Order that made it mandatory for all publishers to get permission from the government before publishing any work. However, Milton didn’t put forth the libertarian idea of the right to free speech and expression as he says that after a book or work of literature is published and it is found to be offensive, blasphemous, or libelous, it can be completely destroyed and the author and publisher can be punished by the authority. In a way, Milton’s only point is to let all sorts of works be published freely to be evaluated afterward if they require any censorship, he strongly opposes prior censorship of literary works. However, he shows a degree of tolerance to all sorts of authors as he says,
“I mean not tolerated Popery, and open superstition, which as it extirpates all religions and civil supremacies, so itself should be extirpated, provided first that all charitable and compassionate means be used to win and regain the weak and the misled.”
While Milton was a supporter of Presbyterians and he vociferously supported Parliamentarians against the Royalists during the civil war, he was at odd against the Parliament during the time when this Licensing Order was issued. He already had argued against the Parliament for individual rights in his Doctrines of Divorce and he experienced the effects of censorship by himself. The Puritan society of England resisted Milton’s revolutionary ideas but later on, they were incorporated in case of Divorce as the Westminster Assembly of Faith allowed divorce to be legal in case of adultery and abandonment in 1650. On the other hand, his opposition against the Licensing Order didn’t win immediate support as the Licensing Order continued till 1695.
So this is it about Aeropagitica. We will continue to discuss other major works of John Milton. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards.
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