The Arguement Against Censorship in Areopagitica by John...

The revolutionary period of the Renaissance, where the concept of individuality is in the center, will suggest progress in the promotion of the freedom of speech. Surprisingly, in John Miltons time, the opposite occurs: in England of 1643 comes forth the order of the regulation of printing, in which every printed material has to be licensed by the parliament in order to get published. Milton retaliates against this law by writing the tract Areopagitica, a Greek word whose meaning is place of Justice. This place is what he calls the commonwealth -- the public sphere. Consequently, it makes sense to allow limitations in order to uphold justice. However, Milton believes censorship prevents the ability to truly choose Good over Evil. He†¦show more content†¦And perhaps this is that doom which Adam fell into of knowing good and evil, that is to say of knowing good by evil. Just as Adam learned the concept of good by learning about evil when he sinned and fell from the Garden of E den, so must the commonwealth learn about both good and evil. Good and evil are intermixed; we cannot dispense with one or the other because we can only understand what good truly means after understanding the notion of evil. Therefore, one has to be aware of both through learning all types of knowledge and so, censorship only serves as an obstruction. Familiarity trough trial is necessary in order to recognize good from evil. Our faith and knowledge thrives by exercise. In order to truly have faith and be a good Christian, one has to exercise -- to read all spectrums of books, not only materials that were licensed and deemed good. We have to know all the possibilities since only someone who can, ...Consider vice with all her baits and seeming pleasures, and yet abstain, despite knowing the temptations, is the true wayfaring Christian. An ignorant choice is meaningless; only a sober choice, of someone exposed and conscious of evil, deserves credit. However, in order to make a choic e one needs to determine what the truth is. Milton complicates the choice further by maintaining that Truth is compared in Scripture to a streaming fountain. In this comparison the water in