Who's Afraid of Areopagitica?: Milton and the Revolutionary Reader, Once More (RSA2026)
The premise of this anticipated panel is that Areopagitica is a critical text for our age, so it’s time to reconsider it. John Milton’s 1644 argument against pre-publication censorship is lauded by some as an absolute defense of freedom of speech. But Areopagitica also advocates suppression of Catholic writings and allows for destruction of most everything else after its publication. Scholars have long considered whether this text provides a resource for advocates of freedom of expression and the press, a model of totalitarianism, or something else entirely. How might our own age of media revolution and debates about intellectual freedom recast our understanding of Areopagitica and its legacies?