Areopagitica, by John Milton (free audio book)

LibriVox ^

[ProgressingAmerica]

A prose tract or polemic by John Milton, published November 23, 1644, at the height of the English Civil War... Milton, though a supporter of the Parliament, argued forcefully against the Licensing Order of 1643, noting that such censorship had never been a part of classical Greek and Roman society. The tract is full of biblical and classical references which Milton uses to strengthen his argument. The issue was personal for Milton as he had suffered censorship himself in his efforts to publish several tracts defending divorce (a radical stance at the time and one which met with no favor from the censors)... Areopagitica is among history's most influential and impassioned philosophical defences of the principle of a right to free speech. (Summary by Wikipedia)

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TOPICS: Chit/Chat; History; Reference; Society
KEYWORDS: areopagitica; audiobook; freeperbookclub; johnmilton; librivox; pages

[ProgressingAmerica]

LV has two versions of this work.

Areopagitica (Version 2)

https://librivox.org/areopagitica-by-john-milton-2/

[ProgressingAmerica]

Hello Gritty,

A few weeks ago I discovered an old post of yours with dozens of works in it, this Milton book Areopagitica was one of them.

The American Colonist’s Library-A Treasury of Primary Documents (Repost)
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1294965/posts

I have been pulling book titles off of your list for my future reference works. Religio Medici was another work on your list which I found interesting but luckily, it is also already completed.

https://librivox.org/author/2989

[Liz]

The name Areopagitica is derived from the Areopagitikos, a speech by the
Athenian orator Isocrates to the Areopagus (the supreme court) in Athens.

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Areopagitica is A Speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc’d Printing, to the Parlament of England is a 1644 prose polemic written by the poet John Milton. It is one of history’s most influential defenses of freedom of speech and expression, written to oppose the Licensing Order of 1643.

Milton wrote this to Parliament to challenge a law requiring government approval (licensing) before any book could be published.

It was published during the First English Civil War, driven by Parliament’s decision to institute censorship, which came after several of Milton’s pamphlets on divorce were suppressed.

Milton argues that restricting books (”licensing”) is a form
of, and a gateway to, oppression that stifles truth and intellectual growth.
He argues that truth requires open debate and exposure to false or challenging ideas to be strengthened.

While it had limited immediate impact on changing the 1643 law,
Areopagitica became a foundation for modern, Western ideas on free expression.

Famous Quote: “Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to
argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties.”

[Resolute Conservative]

I read Paradise Lost about every 2 years or so. One of my favorites. The imagery used in Chapter 9 to describe Satan is a work of art.

[dfwgator]

"Don't write this down, but I find Milton probably as boring as you find Milton. Mrs. Milton found him boring too. He's a little bit long-winded, he doesn't translate very well into our generation, and his jokes are terrible."

[Resolute Conservative]

The unedited version of the movie (not the network showing) is priceless.

[Biblebelter]

Any time spent with Milton is time well spent.

I think daily about one thing Milton wrote which is familiar to lot of folk who probably have never read the whole work.

Satans says,”Better to reign in Hell, than to serve in Heaven” .

I juxtapose that with what Jesus said in Luke 9:60 Let the dead bury the dead.

Which can be interpreted to say that our choice is to die in the flesh or live in the spirit.

And that is the same choice Milton has Satan making in Paradise Lost.

[goodnesswins]

I went to those links...some don’t work, however with a search I could find the item.

The problem is...there IS NOT ENOUGH TIME IN MY LIFE LEFT TO READ all of the works.

But, thanks for posting!!!

[nicollo]

Good on you and librivox for promoting this hugely important text!

[Bigg Red]

mark

[Verginius Rufus]

I've only read Paradise Lost once, many years ago. His sonnet "On His Blindness" is included in One Hundred and One Famous Poems It ends with the line "They also serve who only stand and wait."

That inspired the title of the book They Also Serve which my father read when he was young--it's about the men behind the lines in World War I involved with logistics. (I never read it myself.)

[Gritty]

You have done marvelous work and put forth much personal effort. I commend you for it.

I recommend everyone interested in an expanded vision of history to visit your Home Page for further information and links. Please keep up the good work!

[PAR35]

Required reading in Journalism school a half century ago. I doubt it is now.

[ProgressingAmerica]

Hopefully LibriVox gets to a point where it promotes all of the texts we care about. I think we can get there.

[ProgressingAmerica]

Hey thanks for your thoughtful reply. I’ll try to prioritize some works including those on your list but if you ever had insight you wanted to share please let me know. I would like to better prioritize.

Off the top of my head real quick one work that was on your list that I already have in-progress and partially done is “The Reasonableness of Christianity” by Locke.

[ProgressingAmerica]

FWIW LibriVox has 2 different completed versions of Paradise Lost as well as separate parts and pieces of it in short works collections. And also Paradise Regained.

In case it had value for you. There’s two full pages of Milton works spilling over into a third.

https://librivox.org/author/175

[ProgressingAmerica]

Not having enough time is exactly why we need greater potential efficiency.

That’s a large part of why I put work into seeing these audio books created.

[Resolute Conservative]

Thanks.