Nos censures au miroir de l'Index librorum prohibitorum/Our censorship mirrored in the Index librorum prohibitorum

The Roman Index continually banned publications throughout the "Christian Republic" for four centuries, from the 16th to the 20th century. In the light of this system of censorship, its laws and jurisprudential practice in matters of literature, the present article questions current-day regulations regarding public speech. Some questions run through the whole history of censorship in spite of cultural differences: Do lawgivers accept their role as censors? Do they target an author's intention, statements or the publicreception of such statements? Is censorship limited to legal prohibitions? Is an offensive book necessarily dangerous? Does the literary value of a text defuse or exacerbate the danger? What type of influence can a book have on the public? Can and should less impressionable readers be granted exemptions from censorship?