Socrates: An Example Of Censorship In Ancient Roman Society

The word censorship is from the Latin word root of censere, which means to give an opinion or expression to be judged upon. Censorship is the restriction of certain material, and due to its expression it is seen offensive to someone else. The origin of expression of censorship can be tracked back to the Roman Empire when Roman officials assessed the conduct and attitudes of other Roman citizens. The Roman government viewed that in order to have a strong government, the behavior and conduct of the peopled had to be changed according to what they thought was correct. Censorship continued to be a controversy over time. It remained a controversy over time, through many empires, the age of Enlightenment, World War II, and even today. As censorship progressed through the ages it still continues today. Today, censorship occurs at schools. It occurs in libraries, classrooms, and even in student publications. Even though censorship can occur to a certain extent at schools, students’ First Amendment rights are still protected at school. The First Amendment protects freedom of expression, speech, press, religion, and assembly. Students are allowed to express themselves freely at school as long as they do not affect the education and as long as it is not an activity supported by the school system.

Laurie Halse Anderson once said, “Censorship is the child of fear and the father of ignorance.” Censorship, by definition, is suppressing people from looking at books, movies, et cetera. In Fahrenheit 451 and The Book Thief, the government forces their community and the citizens within it to censor out what they read and look at. They do this out of fear of the people turning back on them and rebelling. And sometimes people censor themselves to stay blissfully unaware of the terror that surrounds them.

Book banning is a prime target for censorship. Censorship in print media, notably book banning, occurs across homes, schools, stores, and other facilities daily. Censorship in the schools is the most widespread and exposed place for book banning. Do

While many believe censorship to be a necessity in certain contexts, the idea of censorship is at fault in its attempt to control and stop the advance knowledge of the world today.There is fear of

Censorship can be found all the way back to 443 BC, Rome. It was used in Greece, and a good government meant the people were shaped well. In order for the people to be well shaped they needed censorship, which is why it was such an important job. The first law for censorship did not become established until 300 AD in China (Newth). Frank states that many works of art have been changed and sometimes even erased because the content was not liked by people. The biggest reason why people do not like by people were for religious, social, or political reasons. Censorship was pushed artists’ freedom away by not letting them fully express their work. In 1565, Michelangelo's famous Sistine Chapel fresco was said to be unholy and wrong in the Catholic

Censorship has been adopted in many societies as well as the governments of our world. As the history of the world expands we see many countries try to censor what their citizens see. When the countries do this they are not assisting the country, they are leading it into a self-destruction. A good example of this would be America in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. This nation is destroyed in a futuristic war that only lasts a couple of minutes, if not seconds. Other fitting examples include the Nazi regime and the Soviet Union, both governments censoring their population in what they could read, write, and see. As we know both of these governments did not succeed and ultimately were obliterated and the countries were punished. Government censorship not only wounds the ability for people to grow and expand in their thought process, but it eventually causes the ultimate self-destruction of the nation.

When Mark twain's books were being banned his response was "Censorship is telling a man he can’t have a steak because a baby can’t chew it” I completely partially with this Idea. I think that all though most of the time censorship is unnecessary and at times even ridiculous, but I also think there are certain situations in which it is reasonable.For instance an Example of a time that it would be ok were if you had like a book like Huckleberry Finn at an elementary school that would make it ok to ban it censor it because that is when the children might still be to young t be read things with that kind of language. Although in cases like it being banned from a public library then it is no longer ok and if it taken to the extreme can even lead to more

Overall governments, organizations, and those in power often times use censorship in order to shelter or hide things from people. For example, when a parent is just doing what is best for their kid and doesn’t just let them do whatever they want. There is always a reason, often times thought to be protection. However it could potentially be more, perhaps manipulation? Whatever may be the reason censorship will remain a vastly used form of restriction that some may just need to learn to

Censorship dates all the way back to 443 BC in ancient Rome with the Office of Censor. In that time this was an office of great repute, the Office of Censor was charged with the shaping of the character of the people. Thus it was considered to be an honorable task, since then the connotation of the word and such an office has changed greatly. Today censorship is the practice of officially examining books, movies, etc. and suppressing “unacceptable parts” based on whoever is defining “unacceptable.” Unacceptable has been considered to be a wide range of concepts from ideas to sexually explicit content. Historically in the USSR most leaders used censorship in every form as a means of suppressing whatever or whoever was perceived as a

Censorship refers to the regulation of freedom of expression or any other information that may be sensitive or morally inaccurate to the people. This information can be considered immoral or politically inconvenient by religious groups, the government, ethnic communities and media outlets. Censorship originates back in ancient times in many different countries such as Rome and China. Censorship was mainly used for political, social and religious purposes. For example, Christians used censorship to defend against non-Christian rulers threats.

A prevalent example of this ancient censorship was the execution of Socrates in 399 B.C.E., they feared that Socrates was corrupting the youth of Rome, particularly his students. In 213 B.C.E. Minister Li Si and Emperor Qin Shi Huang of China Ordered the destruction of most history and philosophy texts, because they wanted the people after him to believe that the world began with with his rein. Attempts to stifle ideas through censorship are a feature of societies, both primitive and advanced. The U.S. is no stranger to censorship. Over the last 20 years, books in use by libraries have been challenged over 6000 times (History of Book Censorship). Books have been banned for the most absurd of reasons, and I have included some of my favorites. In 2006 Charlotte's Web was banned in a Kansas school district because of its “Blasphemous and Unnatural” representation of animals with vocal capabilities. The Scarlet Letter was challenged on sexual grounds and has been called “pornographic” and “obscene” even though the book contains no sexual language or sex scenes. The Rabbits Wedding was banned from the Alabama state's library system because it

“Research on the Censorship of ‘Brave New World”” Although being a subject of controversy for many decades, the novel Brave New World has survived the test of time and is even considered a classic. With that in mind, this novel is still continued to be challenged as it ranked number 7 in ALA’s “Frequently Challenged Books for the 21st Century” for 2011 (“Frequently Challenged Books for the 21st Century”). This list is composed of books that people don’t believe are suitable for the public to view. Another name for this, when the books are actually banned, is called censorship. However, should people actually be able to infringe on other people’s right to read books based on their narrow moral or religious views?

The Athenian way of life is based on Homeric values. Up to this point in Greek history all of Greek culture has culminated in the form of democratic government. The culmination of Greek history reaches its peak during this time: from the values outlined by Homer in the Iliad and Odyssey to the life of Socrates during which the epitome of Greek culture has been met in the form of a democratic government. But Socrates undermines Greek culture and is therefore put to death. Socrates may be a hero in the philosophical movement but he is the worst of villains to the Athenians. According to ancient Athenian standards. justice is served when Socrates is killed. The three accusations made against Socrates exhibit the way in which he undermines Greek culture and the valid reasons for which he was put to death.

"But he who greatly excels in beauty, strength, birth, or wealth, or on the other hand who is very poor, or very weak, or very much disgraced, finds it difficult to follow rational principle" (Aristotle, Politics, Book 4, 4.11)

Censorship takes many forms in our society today. First it takes the form of political correctness. The purpose