Revisit Milton's plug for free debate
Reading Areopagitica today, what resonates most is the extent to which Milton believed that full, open debate was essential to any attempt to arrive at truth. “Where there is much desire to learn,” he wrote, “there of necessity will be much arguing, much writing, many opinions; for opinion in good men is but knowledge in the making.”
See also Glenn Reynolds's Remember when protest was patriotic? (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
I believe that Milton must be read with a shrewdly skeptical eye cast upon his 17th century contexts (political and religious) and his 17th century attitudes (especially with respect to who would actually qualify under Milton's and the government's perspectives as legitimate persons with legitimate standing to own and express opinions). There is much to admire in Milton's poetry, but I am wary of his prose, his politics and his social consciousness. More particularly, as for his prose, the man did too much love adverbs (especially and excessively, though I say so using all my modifiers here with an appreciation of the irony), superfluous adjectives, prepositional phrases within prepositional phrases (more irony by me here), and plenty of other 17th century flourishes of syntax that stand in the way of clarity and readability.
ReplyDeleteWhat's with all the political punditry lately in Books Inq.?
ReplyDeleteReynolds is proving, once again, that out of power Repubs really are having a problem being the minority.
I remember the Dixie Chicks and a bunch of others being "un-patriotic", but I never thought too much of Toby Keith, even as a country singer. Except for his song 'How do you like me now?'
-blue
Not to worry, Blue. I was asked to write about Milton and, since the section is for commentary, chose to discuss the Aerepagitica, which is about free discourse. I was also asked to indicate its contemporary relevance, which I believe I did.Glenn Reynolds, by the way, is not a Republican. Once upon a time, he even worked for Al Gore. And Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks (with whom I share a birthday) was thought patriotic by some for her remarks about Bush. She was certainly entitled to them and braver than most in making them public, given the venues she usually plays. Glenn's point, my point, and Milton's point is that every view ought to be allowed to be out there. And on ever subject. Not just politics. I certainly did not intend my piece as political punditry; it is about discourse and the need for it to be free, open and thorough. I presume you agree with that.
ReplyDeleteThis might be a good time to tell you that I remember something Anthony Burgess wrote in 1984 when he offered his list of the "99 best" modern novels (from 1939 through 1984): "If you violently disagree with some of my choices, I shall be pleased. We arrive at values only through dialectic." That second sentence, of course, is the important statement in this context, and it seems relevant to the discussions you provoke on your blog, Frank. And, I mean "provoke" in the best spirit of the word, in the sense that you encourage commentators to engage in thoughtful dialectic for the purpose of arriving at an understanding of values.
ReplyDelete