'Parrhèsia', 'asebeia' en censuur: het vrije spreken en het beknotten van de vrije meningsuiting in het klassieke Athene en de Late Oudheid

Ancient Greece is often seen as the cradle of democracy, of free thought and of free speech. This article presents a number of historical cases of intellectual repression in Greece and Rome, including examples even of book-burning. It discusses the political and philosophical concept of ‘parrhèsia’ and analyses the importance of religious restrictions through well known charges of ‘asebeia’ (Anaxagoras, Protagoras and Socrates). In the second section of the article the philosophical arguments are put forward developed by Plato in favour of preventive and repressive censorship and it ends with a short discussion of the Stoic attitude towards censorship.Ancient Greece is often seen as the cradle of democracy, of free thought and of free speech. This article presents a number of historical cases of intellectual repression in Greece and Rome, including examples even of book-burning. It discusses the political and philosophical concept of ‘parrhèsia’ and analyses the importance of religious restrictions through well known charges of ‘asebeia’ (Anaxagoras, Protagoras and Socrates). In the second section of the article the philosophical arguments are put forward developed by Plato in favour of preventive and repressive censorship and it ends with a short discussion of the Stoic attitude towards censorship.A