The Enlightened Censor

Catalog description

In this course we will follow the trajectories of 18th century Portuguese censors as they permit or forbid books by Voltaire, Rousseau or Locke, but also sermons, plays and dissertations. Is it possible that the censorship of the 18th century has shared with the Enlightenment so many key elements that it could be regarded more as an enlightened censorship than as an anti-Enlightenment censorship? The answer to this question will allow us to better understand the difficult birth of modernity and pluralism and the challenges both face today. In English.