Freedom of thought
The precursor and progenitor of other liberties.
Freedom of thought is the freedom of an individual to hold or consider a fact, viewpoint, or thought, independent of others' viewpoints. It is the precursor and progenitor of other liberties such as freedom of religion, speech, and expression, and is a vital part of international human rights law.
- field
- Human rights, philosophy, law
- known_for
- Being the matrix and indispensable condition of nearly every other form of freedom
- legal_basis
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 18; European Convention on Human Rights, Article 9
- key_proponents
- Themistius, Michel de Montaigne, Baruch Spinoza, John Locke, Voltaire, John Stuart Mill, Roger Williams
Lore & Background
Freedom of expression can be limited through censorship, arrests, book burning, or propaganda, which tends to discourage freedom of thought. Examples include the Soviet suppression of genetics research in favor of Lysenkoism, Nazi book-burning campaigns, anti-intellectualism under Pol Pot and Adolf Hitler, and strict limits on expression in Communist China, Cuba, and capitalist dictatorships such as those of Augusto Pinochet and Francisco Franco.
Reader's Guide
Freedom of thought is axiomatic for many other freedoms, though 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. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Benjamin Cardozo reasoned in Palko v. Connecticut that freedom of thought is the matrix, the indispensable condition, of nearly every other form of freedom. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights both guarantee freedom of thought unconditionally, distinguishing it from the freedom to manifest religion or belief. The United Nations' Human Rights Committee states that no limitations whatsoever are permitted on freedom of thought and conscience. More recently, neuroimaging technology has raised concerns about entities possibly reading and subsequently suppressing thought, forming the emerging fields of neuroethics and neuroprivacy. Humanists International publishes the annual Freedom of Thought Report, compiling country-by-country material on the treatment of non-religious people and related freedoms.
Did You Know?
- The edicts of King Ashoka have been called the first decree respecting freedom of conscience.
- Queen Elizabeth I revoked a thought censorship law because she did not like to make windows into men's souls and secret thoughts.
- Giordano Bruno was burned as a heretic for refusing to recant ideas such as the possibility of an infinite universe.
- The Sapir–Whorf hypothesis supports the claim that limiting language use restricts freedom of thought.
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