Areopagitica book club questions

The reading plan

Meeting 1: Part 1

1. Does wide reading make someone more virtuous, or just better informed?
2. What might make the speaker's challenge to printing restrictions persuasive to those who impose them?
3. How far should readers trust their own judgment when choosing what to read?
4. What reasons could supporters of printing restrictions give in answer to the speaker?
5. How convincing is the link the speaker draws between reading widely and becoming virtuous?

Meeting 2: Part 2

6. Which matters more in judging censorship: whether it works or whom it harms?
7. How might writers and readers judge the costs of censorship differently?
8. How does bringing religious freedom into the argument change what is at stake?
9. What would count as a convincing answer to the speaker's doubts about censorship's practical value?
10. Whose injuries would you put first when weighing the speaker's case, those of writers or readers?

Meeting 3: Part 3

11. Is asking Parliament to correct its mistakes a sign of trust in authority or a challenge to it?
12. What responsibilities should accompany the freedom to debate that the speaker defends?
13. What might make correcting a mistake harder for Parliament than defending an existing decision?
14. Which appeal seems strongest: better judgment, protection from harm, or the freedom to debate?
15. What would you need to hear from Parliament to believe it had taken the speaker's challenge seriously?

Themes to talk about

Tips for the host

1. Open each meeting with one question everyone can answer, then go deeper.
2. Anyone who fell behind can catch up with the 15-minute summary.