John Milton’s Areopagitica (1644) is one of the most important defenses of free speech and liberty of conscience in the English Renaissance. Using rethoric, it is written against government licensing of books, Milton argued that truth does not need protection from error, it thrives in open contest, where falsehood can be tested and defeated.

My reflections: This book is both eye opening and flawed: eye opening, because its vision of intellectual freedom shaped the foundations of modern democracy; flawed, because Milton himself wasn’t always consistent in applying these principles. Still, Areopagitica stands as a milestone in the fight against censorship.