Reflection on “Milton’s Areopagitica and the Modern First Amendment”

Blasi’s discussion of John Milton’s Areopagitica and its modern relevance in regard to the First Amendment serves as a survey of the text and a detailed conceptualization of Milton’s primary points. The main argument of the paper centers around liberty and truth, and, though Blasi informs his readers that Milton’s ideas cannot be viewed in a secular context to benefit our modern understanding of free speech, Milton’s discussion of the evils of the Licensing Order of 1643 form a foundation upon which the ideas of free speech have since been laid. Milton’s argument is a sound one: anger toward the Roman Catholic Church aside, reading is a valuable skill, and exposure to a variety of perspectives, heathen or otherwise (excluding Catholicism of course), ultimately “checks the spread of sin” and strengthens the reader’s character (Blasi). He also argues that censorship, at least censorship that aims to completely prevent other viewpoints from entering a society, is wholly ineffectual, and the Licensing Order would fail, in any sense, to accomplish its intended purpose as a result. Blasi moves to discuss Milton’s views on conformity. Ultimately, conformity, in Milton’s mind, as would be created by censorship, would rot the English society, being an evil much larger and more dangerous than any written work.

In drawing conclusions, however, Blasi’s argument becomes less clear. Rather than drawing a unique thought on the modern relevance of the Miltonic text as promised, he instead repeats earlier insights about Milton’s intense religious bias and how Milton, as a result, is generally no longer applicable to our current view of free speech. Blasi opened his paper arguing that free speech is “under fire from several directions” (Blasi) and ends referencing the same point, yet fails to meaningfully tie this, supposedly the core of his discussion, back to Areopagitica. Blasi praises Milton for reminding us that “freedom of speech can be a powerful force”, a wholly unsatisfying conclusion to a fairly long dive into the text and context of Milton’s Areopagitica.