Saturday Rave: Areopagitica, by John Milton.

I have a bit of a problem with John Milton. His mind was tough and his poetry magnificent, but...

...I think what it comes down to is that he irritates the heck out of me.

Still, many people revere Milton, so this is plainly my fault. I think that part of it is that I've never recovered from reading Robert Graves' wonderful novel Wife To Mr Milton.

Is this why I have mixed feelings about Areopagitica? (The title refers to the hill in Ancient Greece where trails were held.)

Areopagitica is a pamphlet arguing against censorship - and it makes its argument both logically and successfully, and many philosophers whom came after him took Areopagitica as their starting point.



(Although it's called a Speech to Parliament on the cover, it was never a speech, and, as John Milton wasn't a Member of Parliament he couldn't have made it, anyway. I told you he was irritating.)

The other two irritating things about Areopagitica is that, first, one reason Milton was so charged-up about censorship was that his own treatise on divorce had been suppressed (he wanted divorce on the grounds on incompatability. If you want to know more about the circumstances I do recommend Wife to Mr Milton); and, second, after making a series of clear and admirable arguments he goes and says that none of it counts if the stuff's about things he doesn't agree with, such as Catholicism, or superstition, or attacks on the government.

Milton's argument goes something like this: a) it was the Catholics who started this censorship lark, and you don't want to be copying them; b) reading wrong things expands the mind and confirms what is right; c) licensing laws are expensive and useless, and most people will come across the bad ideas by other media such as word of mouth, anyway; d) you can't trust the censors; and, e) as long as a written work isn't allowed to be anonymous then you can sort out the author after publication, anyway.

So, two hearty cheers for John Milton.

It should be three, really, but I can't quite bring myself to suggest it.

Word To Use Today: censor. This word comes from the Latin word cēnsēre, to consider.