Censorship By Any Other Name...

by Jenna Ahern

In a world that has "moved past" literary censorship, is it ethical to prevent the publication of literature that conflicts with the popular public view?

Looking back on the history of publishing, we now think of the biased censorship that often occurred as being clearly unjustified and detrimental to the progress of independent thinking. But when we are living in a time of gray areas and thin lines, we realize that the answers aren't as cut-and-dry as they appear upon looking back. Hindsight may be 20/20, but it doesn't answer the questions in today's publishing world about what is justified censorship or if there is such a thing. After spending centuries fighting for freedom of speech, religion, information, etc., turning around and censoring texts that are deemed by a simple majority as being too extreme or radical is nothing but a modern version of censorship.

Observation and Truth

We live in a world where we have literally just about every piece of information that we could need in the palm of our hands.  (Literally. We all have smartphones).  And not only that, but the information that we can find is usually valid and has some sort of evidence to support it.  This practice of having information that is backed by evidence is a product of the Enlightenment period, which has greatly shaped the world that we live in today.

Before this time period, of course individuals sought growth and learning.  After all, that’s what the Renaissance was all about.  However, it was during the Enlightenment that people started looking for validity in the information flowing around.  

There was a man by the name of Francis Bacon in this time period of the Enlightenment who was known for being a philosopher over the scientific method.  He is well-known for his thoughts regarding observation and truth. He made the following statement

“Man, being the servant and interpreter of Nature, can do and understand so much and so much only as he has observed in fact or in through of the course of nature.  Beyond this he neither knows anything nor can do anything.”


This quote marks a crucial turning point where people began looking to science for answers.  It was no longer as common to accept thoughts and theories without any evidence or observation.  This was a huge leap in progress for the world, and because of it, we have access to so much free flowing information that can be validated through evidence.

Image credit: by Frans Pourbus