The Art of Veiled Speech: Self-Censorship from Aristophanes to Hobbes

Throughout Western history, there have been those who felt compelled to share a dissenting opinion on public matters, while still hoping to avoid the social, political, and even criminal consequences for exercising free speech. In this collection of fourteen original essays, editors Han Baltussen and Peter J. Davis trace the roots of censorship far beyond its supposed origins in early modern history.

Beginning with the ancient Greek concept of parrhêsia, and its Roman equivalent libertas, th...