First, the background of free thought.
Milton 1608 was born in a musician's family in London. 1632 graduated from Cambridge University with a master's degree. He didn't want to be a priest, so he taught himself at home and devoted himself to poetry creation.
1638, Milton traveled to France, Italy and Switzerland, and specially visited Galileo, a great scientist persecuted by metropolis. When he was preparing to go to Greece and Sicily, the news of the British revolution came. He believes: "When my compatriots are fighting for freedom, I can travel abroad freely, even if this kind of travel is for studying in Germany." [1] So he quickly returned to China and joined the revolutionary struggle.
1644, the British bourgeoisie won the struggle against tuya Tian dynasty. The upper class of the bourgeoisie is afraid that the revolution will continue to deepen and tries its best to suppress the people's freedom of thought and religious belief. A censorship system for newspapers and periodicals was promulgated. Under the background of this era, Milton put forward a sharply worded doctrine to Congress: on freedom of the press. He stressed with great enthusiasm that the decision of what should or should not be published should not be placed in the hands of a few inspectors.
Second, the content of freedom of the press.
On freedom of the press laid the foundation for the formation of liberal journalism theory in later generations and promoted the development of modern freedom of the press. It was also named "the first liberal classic in the world", from which the following conclusions were drawn.
1, people must have religious freedom, personal freedom and civil freedom.
Milton is a born liberal. He believes that people must have religious freedom, personal freedom and civil freedom, without which it is impossible to live happily. He is extremely concerned about freedom of thought and thinks it is "the mother of all great wisdom". This is like a blessing from heaven, which makes our spirit happy and noble. It liberates, expands and greatly improves our knowledge. [2] Therefore, it is indispensable for people to freely express their opinions and conduct free discussions according to their own conscience. However, the feudal autocratic monarch was afraid of freedom of thought and imposed a policy of imprisonment on the freedom of writing and publishing. In the early 1950s, the Presbyterian Church in Britain promulgated the Publication Management Law, which stipulated that all books, pamphlets or papers must be approved by the competent authority or at least one person in charge, otherwise they may not be published. In this way, works that are accused by the authorities of being so-called heresy for no reason, not to mention, as long as they think they are not in line with the taste, will be classified as banned books and may not be published. Not only that, but also pursue and persecute the author. In fact, no matter whether the official investigation is out of demanding, jealous, narrow-minded, or out of doubt and embarrassment to the author, this practice is a serious obstacle to people's active mind, distinguishing between true and false, and increasing their wisdom. Milton emphasized: "Give those who dare to take risks the freedom to discuss and express their personal opinions freely, without any official investigation in secret, because nothing is more conducive to the development of truth: all science can never be measured uniformly, and then given to us by the temporary pleasure of a little knowledge" [4], and asserted: "This law not only makes our talents unable to play in known things, but also becomes increasingly slow; At the same time, discoveries that could have been further obtained in religious and secular circles will also be hindered. In this way, its main function is only to destroy academics and stifle truth [5]. "
2. Freedom of publishing right is a kind of human rights freedom, which is the greatest freedom among all freedoms.
Milton said at the beginning of the article: "All we want is to listen to people's complaints with an open mind. And carry out in-depth thinking and rapid reform. This has reached the maximum limit of human rights and freedoms that Tessa wants. " [6] In the middle of the article. Milton attacked the phenomenon that "freedom of the press must be clamped down by the 20-member episcopal committee" [7]. It is pointed out that this is a "cruel system that violates human rights" [8]. He enthusiastically praised the freedom of the press as "the wet nurse of all great wisdom" [9]. "It's like a gift from heaven, which makes our spirit happy and noble. He liberated us, expanded us and greatly improved our knowledge. [attending] "Milton emphasized that the freedom to know, express opinions and discuss freely is the most important freedom among all freedoms. The right to freedom.
Milton believes that serious writing is not as easy as a simple grammar exercise in class as prosecutors think. Writing is a complex spiritual activity, so we should let our thoughts have full freedom and not be suppressed in any form. If a person who enjoys freedom has never been considered a traitor and his writing skills are not independent, then he can only be regarded as a fool in his own country. In fact, when a person prepares to publish his works to the outside world, he will inevitably use all his wisdom to discuss and think hard, not only to learn from the accumulated experience of predecessors, but also to humbly seek the opinions of wise friends to make his opinions more perfect. After this tempering, he can think that his work is no less than that of previous writers, because this work is the perfect result of his loyal work and mature wisdom. If he spends so much time writing, his talent and fame have reached a mature level. It's a pity that we can't always believe his works, but it's very important for us to be tested and make things difficult.
For him, this is undoubtedly a painful mental torture. Therefore, Milton said angrily, "Before a book is born in the world, it must stand before the judge more piteously than a guilty soul. Before it returns to broad daylight by ferry, it must be tried by a group of people like Radamadeus (the judge-introducer's notes in hell) in a gloomy and dark environment: such a thing has never been heard. " [1 1] Milton also compares the roles of writers and officially appointed inspectors, and points out that there is a great disparity in their talents. An experienced and diligent writer works hard day and night, but he has to give his works to an ordinary inspector for a quick look. This inspector may be a school girl much younger than him, far behind him in judgment, and may still be in the ignorant stage in writing. Imagine, if such an examiner is allowed to sign an opinion at the back of the work to ensure that the author is not an idiot or a liar, then his work will get a chance to be published. "This practice is a great insult to the author, to the book, and to the solemnity and privilege of academics." [ 12]
3. Freedom of the press is the embodiment of humanistic culture.
Milton regards humanistic culture as the condition and soil for the emergence and realization of press freedom. He said: "We have not become Goths and Jutes today, so we should thank the elegant knowledge and literature of those times." [13] What are the elegant knowledge and literature of those times? In Milton's view, that is Greece's "ancient and noble humanistic culture". "At that time, people who studied knowledge and eloquence were highly respected at home and abroad. If they openly criticize state affairs. Free city-states and tyrant city-states will listen to their opinions happily and respectfully. " [14] Although "there are more books and philosophers in Athens than anywhere else in Greece", "we have never seen Epicurus' theory, the indulgence of Cyrene School and the brazen statement that Cyrene School was interfered by law." [1] But Milton realized that it is the tradition of humanistic culture to allow people to express their opposition to law and authority generously. He said: "If I can ... object to the terms you imposed in a published law, then if someone says I am unconventional and arrogant, I can defend myself very easily. As long as they know how much I think you admire the noble Greek culture ... the problem will be clear. "[15].
4. Freedom of the press is the maintenance of human reason.
Milton fully discussed the relationship between freedom of the press and human life and reason. He said, "Books are not absolutely dead little things." They contain the potential of life and are as active as the author. Not only that, it is also like a vase, which preserves the purest flowers in the fresh wisdom of the creator. I know they are very active and fertile, just like the mythical dragon teeth. When they are scattered everywhere, they may grow into soldiers. "[16] He said that if you are not particularly careful, killing a good person by mistake is as easy as banning a good book by mistake." Killing only kills a rational animal and destroys the image of a god; Banning good books stifles rationality itself and destroys the image of God in students' hearts. Many people's lives may be just a burden on the land; But a good book is equivalent to smoking a cigarette and collecting the precious efforts of outstanding people, with the aim of future life. "[17] We must be extremely careful" to see if we have persecuted the vital things of just people; See how you ruined the lives of the people saved in the book. We see that sometimes such people will commit murder and even kill a martyr; If the whole publishing industry doesn't participate, there will be a massacre. In this massacre, it kills not only the lives of ordinary people, but also the anger of the elite or the fifth element-reason itself. This is killing an immortal saint, not a mortal life. [18] Here, Milton clearly pointed out the strangulation of press freedom. In essence, it is a kind of strangulation to life and human reason. From a positive point of view, freedom of the press is a publicity of life, a maintenance of human reason, and can not be stifled.
Milton's sense of freedom comes from his devout Puritanism belief, thanks to his bold exploration of the first harmony religion, and practiced it in his epic life. This is the experience of the wise, but also a simple and eternal consciousness. It transcends personality, transcends region, and shines with the spirit of pursuing human happiness and perfection.