Freedom of thought (also called freedom of conscience) is the freedom of an individual to hold or consider a fact, viewpoint, or thought, independent of others' viewpoints.
"Without freedom of thought there can be no such thing as wisdom & no such thing as public liberty without freedom of speech", Benjamin Franklin, 1722
Every person attempts to have a cognitive proficiency by developing knowledge, concepts, theories and assessing them in the given environment. This cognitive proficiency gives a sense of contentment and replaces the feeling of helplessness. Apart from bringing ease to the ego of a person, new knowledge and ideas also bring a hope for the future.[1]
Freedom of thought is the precursor and progenitor of—and thus is closely linked to—other liberties, including freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom of expression.[2] Though freedom of thought is axiomatic for many other freedoms, they are in no way required for it to operate and exist. The conception of a freedom or a right does not guarantee its inclusion, legality, or protection via a philosophical caveat. It is a very important concept in the Western world and nearly all democratic constitutions protect these freedoms.
Freedom of thought... is the matrix, the indispensable condition, of nearly every other form of freedom. With rare aberrations a pervasive recognition of this truth can be traced in our history, political and legal.[3]
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.
The United Nations' Human Rights Committee states that this, "distinguishes the freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief from the freedom to manifest religion or belief. It does not permit any limitations whatsoever on the freedom of thought and conscience or on the freedom to have or adopt a religion or belief of one's choice. These freedoms are protected unconditionally".[4] Similarly, Article 19 of the UDHR guarantees that "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference".
History of development and suppression
It is impossible to know with certainty what another person is thinking, making suppression difficult. The concept is developed throughout the Bible, most fully in the writings of Saul of Tarsus (e.g., "For why should my freedom [eleutheria] be judged by another's conscience [suneideseos]?" 1 Corinthians 10:29).[5]
Queen Elizabeth I revoked a thought censorship law in the late sixteenth century, because, according to Sir Francis Bacon, she did "not [like] to make windows into men's souls and secret thoughts".[8] During her reign, philosopher, mathematician, astrologer, and astronomer Giordano Bruno took refuge in England from the Italian Inquisition, where he published a number of his books regarding an infinite universe and topics banned by the Catholic Church. After[clarification needed], Bruno was eventually burned as a heretic in Rome for refusing to recant his ideas. For this reason, he is considered by some to be a martyr for free thought.[9]
Oliver Cromwell is described by Ignaz von Döllinger as "the first among the mighty men of the world to set up one special religious principle, and to enforce it so far as in him lay: ... The principle of liberty of conscience and the repudiation of religious coercion".[10]
However, freedom of expression can be limited through censorship, arrests, book burning, or propaganda, and this tends to discourage freedom of thought. Examples of effective campaigns against freedom of expression are the Soviet suppression of genetics research in favor of a theory known as Lysenkoism, the book-burning campaigns of Nazi Germany, the radical anti-intellectualism enforced in Cambodia under Pol Pot and in Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler, the strict limits on freedom of expression imposed by the Communist governments of the People's Republic of China and Cuba or by dictatorships such as those of Augusto Pinochet in Chile and Francisco Franco in Spain.
The Sapir–Whorf hypothesis, which states that thought can be embedded in language, would support the claim that an effort to limit the use of words of language is actually a form of restricting freedom of thought.[citation needed] This was explored in George Orwell's novel1984, with the idea of Newspeak, a stripped-down form of the English language alleged to lack the capacity for metaphor and limiting expression of original ideas.
More recently, the development of neuroimaging technologies have raised concerns about entities being able to read and subsequently suppress thought. Although the issue is complicated by the mind-body problem, these concerns form the emerging field of neuroethics and neuroprivacy.
^Main, T. F. (1967-06-01). "Knowledge, Learning and Freedom from Thought". Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry. 1 (2): 64–71. doi:10.3109/00048676709159167. ISSN 0004-8674. S2CID 144126437.
^Swaine, Lucas (2016-11-09). "Freedom of Thought as a Basic Liberty". Political Theory. 46 (3): 405–425. doi:10.1177/0090591716676293. ISSN 0090-5917. S2CID 151827391.
^"General Comment No. 22: The right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion (Art. 18) : . 30/07/93. CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.4, General Comment No. 22. (General Comments)". United Nations Human Rights Website – Treaty Bodies Database. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. 1993-07-30. Retrieved 2007-10-21.
^Eugene J. Cooper, "Man's Basic Freedom and Freedom of Conscience in the Bible : Reflections on 1 Corinthians 8–10", Irish Theological Quarterly Dec 1975
^Luzzatti, Luigi (February 2006). Luigi Luzzatti, "The First Decree on Freedom of Conscience" p. 47 in God in Freedom. ISBN978-1596054486. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
^Brimacombe, Peter (2000). All the Queen's Men: The World of Elizabeth I. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 125. ISBN0312232519.
^Arturo Labriola, Giordano Bruno: Martyrs of free thought no. 1
^A.D. Lindsay: The Essentials of Democracy (2 ed.), 1948.
Further reading
D.V. Coornhert, Synod on the Freedom of Conscience: A Thorough Examination during the Gathering Held in the Year 1582 in the City of Freetown English translation
Richard Joseph Cooke, Freedom of thought in religious teaching (1913)
Lucas Swaine, "Freedom of Thought as a Basic Liberty," Political Theory, 46:3 (2018): 405–425. doi:10.1177/0090591716676293
Eugene J. Cooper, "Man's Basic Freedom and Freedom of Conscience in the Bible : Reflections on 1 Corinthians 8–10", Irish Theological Quarterly Dec 1975
George Botterill and Peter Carruthers, 'The Philosophy of Psychology', Cambridge University Press (1999), p. 3
The Hon. Sir John Laws, 'The Limitations of Human Rights', [1998] P. L. Summer, Sweet & Maxwell and Contributors, p. 260
Voltaire (1954). "Liberté de penser". Dictionnaire philosophique. Classiques Garnier (in French). Paris: Éditions Garnier. pp. 277–81.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Freedom of thought.
The Bloody Tenent of Persecution (1867 reprint) (accessed July 10, 2009, on Google Books)
The Center for Cognitive Liberty & Ethics – a network of scholars elaborating the law, policy and ethics of freedom of thought
John Bagnell Bury (1861–1927) A History of Freedom of Thought
April 24, 2023
freedom, thought, confused, with, freethought, cognitive, liberty, freedom, speech, this, article, written, like, personal, reflection, personal, essay, argumentative, essay, that, states, wikipedia, editor, personal, feelings, presents, original, argument, ab. Not to be confused with Freethought Cognitive liberty or Freedom of speech This article is written like a personal reflection personal essay or argumentative essay that states a Wikipedia editor s personal feelings or presents an original argument about a topic Please help improve it by rewriting it in an encyclopedic style July 2018 Learn how and when to remove this template message Freedom of thought also called freedom of conscience is the freedom of an individual to hold or consider a fact viewpoint or thought independent of others viewpoints Without freedom of thought there can be no such thing as wisdom amp no such thing as public liberty without freedom of speech Benjamin Franklin 1722 Contents 1 Overview 2 History of development and suppression 3 See also 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External linksOverview EditEvery person attempts to have a cognitive proficiency by developing knowledge concepts theories and assessing them in the given environment This cognitive proficiency gives a sense of contentment and replaces the feeling of helplessness Apart from bringing ease to the ego of a person new knowledge and ideas also bring a hope for the future 1 Freedom of thought is the precursor and progenitor of and thus is closely linked to other liberties including freedom of religion freedom of speech and freedom of expression 2 Though freedom of thought is axiomatic for many other freedoms they are in no way required for it to operate and exist The conception of a freedom or a right does not guarantee its inclusion legality or protection via a philosophical caveat It is a very important concept in the Western world and nearly all democratic constitutions protect these freedoms For instance the United States Bill of Rights contains the famous guarantee in the First Amendment that laws may not be made that interfere with religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof U S Supreme Court Justice Benjamin Cardozo reasoned in Palko v Connecticut 1937 Freedom of thought is the matrix the indispensable condition of nearly every other form of freedom With rare aberrations a pervasive recognition of this truth can be traced in our history political and legal 3 Such ideas are also a vital part of international human rights law In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights UDHR which is legally binding on member states of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ICCPR freedom of thought is listed under Article 18 Everyone has the right to freedom of thought conscience and religion this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief and freedom either alone or in community with others and in public or private to manifest his religion or belief in teaching practice worship and observance The United Nations Human Rights Committee states that this distinguishes the freedom of thought conscience religion or belief from the freedom to manifest religion or belief It does not permit any limitations whatsoever on the freedom of thought and conscience or on the freedom to have or adopt a religion or belief of one s choice These freedoms are protected unconditionally 4 Similarly Article 19 of the UDHR guarantees that Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference History of development and suppression EditIt is impossible to know with certainty what another person is thinking making suppression difficult The concept is developed throughout the Bible most fully in the writings of Saul of Tarsus e g For why should my freedom eleutheria be judged by another s conscience suneideseos 1 Corinthians 10 29 5 Bronze statue of Giordano Bruno in Rome Although Greek philosophers Plato and Socrates had discussed freedom of thought minimally the edicts of King Ashoka 3rd century BC have been called the first decree respecting freedom of conscience 6 In European tradition aside from the decree of religious toleration by Constantine I at Milan in 313 the philosophers Themistius Michel de Montaigne Baruch Spinoza John Locke Voltaire Alexandre Vinet and John Stuart Mill and the theologians Roger Williams and Samuel Rutherford have been considered major proponents of the idea of freedom of conscience or soul liberty in the words of Williams 7 Queen Elizabeth I revoked a thought censorship law in the late sixteenth century because according to Sir Francis Bacon she did not like to make windows into men s souls and secret thoughts 8 During her reign philosopher mathematician astrologer and astronomer Giordano Bruno took refuge in England from the Italian Inquisition where he published a number of his books regarding an infinite universe and topics banned by the Catholic Church After clarification needed Bruno was eventually burned as a heretic in Rome for refusing to recant his ideas For this reason he is considered by some to be a martyr for free thought 9 Oliver Cromwell is described by Ignaz von Dollinger as the first among the mighty men of the world to set up one special religious principle and to enforce it so far as in him lay The principle of liberty of conscience and the repudiation of religious coercion 10 However freedom of expression can be limited through censorship arrests book burning or propaganda and this tends to discourage freedom of thought Examples of effective campaigns against freedom of expression are the Soviet suppression of genetics research in favor of a theory known as Lysenkoism the book burning campaigns of Nazi Germany the radical anti intellectualism enforced in Cambodia under Pol Pot and in Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler the strict limits on freedom of expression imposed by the Communist governments of the People s Republic of China and Cuba or by dictatorships such as those of Augusto Pinochet in Chile and Francisco Franco in Spain The Sapir Whorf hypothesis which states that thought can be embedded in language would support the claim that an effort to limit the use of words of language is actually a form of restricting freedom of thought citation needed This was explored in George Orwell s novel1984 with the idea of Newspeak a stripped down form of the English language alleged to lack the capacity for metaphor and limiting expression of original ideas More recently the development of neuroimaging technologies have raised concerns about entities being able to read and subsequently suppress thought Although the issue is complicated by the mind body problem these concerns form the emerging field of neuroethics and neuroprivacy See also Edit Philosophy portalAttention theft Freethought Cognitive liberty Conscientious objector Four Freedoms Franklin Roosevelt s speech Free speech zone Free will Intellectual freedom Neuroethics State of World Liberty Index Public opinion Hate crime Hate speech Mind control Prisoner of conscience Thoughtcrime Victimless crimeReferences Edit Main T F 1967 06 01 Knowledge Learning and Freedom from Thought Australian amp New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 1 2 64 71 doi 10 3109 00048676709159167 ISSN 0004 8674 S2CID 144126437 Swaine Lucas 2016 11 09 Freedom of Thought as a Basic Liberty Political Theory 46 3 405 425 doi 10 1177 0090591716676293 ISSN 0090 5917 S2CID 151827391 Palko v State of Connecticut 302 U S 319 1937 General Comment No 22 The right to freedom of thought conscience and religion Art 18 30 07 93 CCPR C 21 Rev 1 Add 4 General Comment No 22 General Comments United Nations Human Rights Website Treaty Bodies Database Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights 1993 07 30 Retrieved 2007 10 21 Eugene J Cooper Man s Basic Freedom and Freedom of Conscience in the Bible Reflections on 1 Corinthians 8 10 Irish Theological Quarterly Dec 1975 Luzzatti Luigi February 2006 Luigi Luzzatti The First Decree on Freedom of Conscience p 47 inGod in Freedom ISBN 978 1596054486 Retrieved 15 September 2014 Luzzatti p 91 Brimacombe Peter 2000 All the Queen s Men The World of Elizabeth I Palgrave Macmillan pp 125 ISBN 0312232519 Arturo Labriola Giordano Bruno Martyrs of free thought no 1 A D Lindsay The Essentials of Democracy 2 ed 1948 Further reading EditD V Coornhert Synod on the Freedom of Conscience A Thorough Examination during the Gathering Held in the Year 1582 in the City of Freetown English translation Richard Joseph Cooke Freedom of thought in religious teaching 1913 Lucas Swaine Freedom of Thought as a Basic Liberty Political Theory 46 3 2018 405 425 doi 10 1177 0090591716676293 Eugene J Cooper Man s Basic Freedom and Freedom of Conscience in the Bible Reflections on 1 Corinthians 8 10 Irish Theological Quarterly Dec 1975 George Botterill and Peter Carruthers The Philosophy of Psychology Cambridge University Press 1999 p 3 The Hon Sir John Laws The Limitations of Human Rights 1998 P L Summer Sweet amp Maxwell and Contributors p 260 Voltaire 1954 Liberte de penser Dictionnaire philosophique Classiques Garnier in French Paris Editions Garnier pp 277 81 Roger Williams The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution for Cause of Conscience 1644 1867 reprint Samuel Rutherford Lex Rex 1644 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Freedom of thought The Bloody Tenent of Persecution 1867 reprint accessed July 10 2009 on Google Books Dictionary of the History of Ideas Academic Freedom The Center for Cognitive Liberty amp Ethics a network of scholars elaborating the law policy and ethics of freedom of thought John Bagnell Bury 1861 1927 A History of Freedom of Thought Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Freedom of thought amp oldid 1144722450, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
