Areopagitica
The author was John Milton. The work, designed as a pamphlet, is an impassioned philosophical defence of the principle of right to freedom of speech and expression. The full title is "Areopagitica; A speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc'd Printing, to the Parlament of England". According to Sabine, Professor of Philosophy, the Areopagitica presumed and was written for an engaged public, "Its basic principle was the right and also the duty of every intelligent man as a rational being, to know the grounds and take responsibility for his beliefs and actions. Its corollary was a society and a state in which decisions are reached by open discussion, in which the sources of information are not contaminated by authority in the interest of party, and in which political unity is secured not by force but by a consensus that respects variety of opinion".
