Analysis of John Milton's Defense of Press Freedom: Essay

This essay delves into John Milton's influential arguments in defense of the freedom of the press, primarily focusing on his prose polemic, Aeropagitica. It examines Milton's philosophical stance on free speech and expression, contrasting his views with the Licensing Order Act of 1643, which imposed pre-publication censorship. The essay highlights Milton's resentment towards government censorship of his works and his belief that free expression is a fundamental liberty. It explores Milton's concept of accountability, suggesting that authors should be legally responsible for their content. The essay emphasizes Milton's conviction that even false or offensive opinions should be published to enable individuals to discern truth from falsehood and to refine their reasoning skills. The essay concludes by emphasizing the lasting impact of Milton's ideas on contemporary laws regarding freedom of the press and critical thinking.

Running head: JOHN MILTON ON DEFENSE OF THE FREEDOM OF PRESS
John Milton on defense of the freedom of press
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1JOHN MILTON ON DEFENSE OF THE FREEDOM OF PRESS
John Milton was an English civil servant under the rule of Oliver Cromwell and he had
expertise on several things (Patterson, 2014). He was a poet, a polemicist and of course a man of
letters. When he published his epic poetry Paradise Lost, the socio-political situation was at an
edge due to religious flux. Milton is mostly known due to his enormous talent as a poet, but he
got engaged in several socio-political activities and out of them, he gained more popularity for
advocating for the freedom of press in that point of time (Popkin, 2015).
In his prose polemic Aeropagitica, John Milton shared philosophical defenses of the
basic principle regarding the right to freedom of speech and expression (Whitten-Woodring &
Van Belle, 2014). In that pamphlet Milton mentioned that the freedom of press should prevail, ‘‘I
deny not but that it is of greatest concernment in the church and commonwealth to have a
vigilant eye how books demean themselves as well as men; and thereafter to confine, imprison,
and do sharpest justice on them as malefactors’’. Milton wanted that his vision about the freedom
of speech and freedom of press should be shared and that is why he made pamphlets and shared
those to make sure that his views are distributed among the public (Patterson, 2014). Milton in
his pamphlet Milton demanded the liberty to know, argue fearlessly according to the conscience.
Milton said that free expression is the fundamental and an unalterable liberty and the priority of
that should be on the higher side.
Milton always had a personal feeling of resentment against the government since the
government had censored many of his creative works and especially the creations about the
political and regarding the controversial laws of that time (Rumrich, 2015). Milton’s
Aeropagetica can be considered as a blunt attack on the Licensing Order Act of 1643, as
according to this act, it was stated that an author’s creation would be first approved by the
government and then only it will be eligible to publish for the public. This act also demanded a

2JOHN MILTON ON DEFENSE OF THE FREEDOM OF PRESS
pre-publishing license, seizure and destruction of the copies of any books if it seems to be
disturbing or against the institution (Gatti, 2015). Along with those, it was also mentioned that
government has the right to arrest and punish anybody if it is seen that due to that individual’s
creation the government might face some challenges, in this context Milton said ‘‘As therefore
the state of man now is, what wisdom can there be to choose, what continence to forbear without
the knowledge of evil?’’
In general Miltons’ argument was that before publishing a creation, before getting the
public response, it will be unethical if the government plans to ban a book or any sort of creation.
Had he been alive this time, he would have been horrified by the current censorship of North
Korea (Witte & Nichols, 2016). Though Milton at his time advocated for the freedom of speech,
but the pres was never free completely. Milton perceived that some means of accountability was
important to make sure that libel was prevented. He stated that, this could be done if a safeguard
can be put, if the authors and individuals who print the creations could take legal responsibilities
of the content they are intending to publish. Milton said if an individual kills another person, he
will be killing a reasonable creature but if an individual destroys a book, he will be killing the
reason himself (Davis, 2017). For Milton, the books are priceless as they content numerous
notions, those ideas might be wrong, to some extent offensive or unorthodox, but it would allow
others to think with reason and improve themselves as human beings. In this context he also
claimed that if the set of ideas are not shared in the society, the reasoning ability of the
individuals will surely get affected, and then individuals might not get closure to attain the
reasoning skills (Woods, 2013).
Milton further stresses on the fact that even the false opinions should get published and
then only individuals will get the opportunity to distinguish between the right and wrong. Those

3JOHN MILTON ON DEFENSE OF THE FREEDOM OF PRESS
false opinions might be racist, hateful, offensive or non-factual but those should get published
and public should have access to those contents (Achinstein, 2014). It is a matter of fact that the
ideas of Milton have influenced the present laws of UK regarding this issue.
Thus to conclude, it can be said that undoubtedly Milton’ unique view and rational
thinking made the platform of critical thinking and the ability to speak against the institution. His
progressive ideas made platform for the reformation of many age old ideas and laws and those
immensely benefitted the society. Milton justified his idea by saying that if a particular content
is offensive or full of hatred, another individual could perceive the content as a thoughtful one.
Thus a particular content can be helpful to someone and at the same time harmful to someone,
thus the matter is relative. It is up to the particular individual how he or she would perceive the
matter. Thus Milton advocated for the freedom of press, and that was one of the revolutionary
acts of that time.

4JOHN MILTON ON DEFENSE OF THE FREEDOM OF PRESS
References
Achinstein, S. (2014). Milton and the revolutionary reader. Princeton University Press.
Davis, J. C. (2017). Religion and the Struggle for Freedom in the English Revolution.
In Alternative Worlds Imagined, 1500-1700 (pp. 139-171). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Witte, J., & Nichols, J. A. (2016). Religion and the American constitutional experiment. Oxford
University Press.
Gatti, H. (2015). Ideas of Liberty in Early Modern Europe: From Machiavelli to Milton.
Princeton University Press.
Rumrich, J. (2015). Radical Heterodoxy and Heresy. A Companion to Milton, 2, 141-156.
Patterson, A. M. (2014). John Milton. Routledge.
Whitten-Woodring, J., & Van Belle, D. A. (2014). Historical guide to world media freedom: A
country-by-country analysis. CQ Press.
Woods, S. (2013). Milton and the Poetics of Freedom. Duquesne University Press.
Popkin, J. D. (2015). Media and revolution. University Press of Kentucky.