Freethought is a philosophical viewpoint that holds that opinions should be formed on the basis of science, logic, and reason, and should not be influenced by authority, tradition, or other dogmas.[citation needed] The cognitive application of freethought is known as "freethinking,"[citation needed] and practitioners of freethought are known as "freethinkers."[1]
Freethought may hold that individuals should not accept ideas proposed as truth without recourse to knowledge and reason. Thus, freethinkers strive to build their opinions on the basis of facts, scientific inquiry, and logical principles, independent of any logical fallacies or intellectually limiting effects of authority, confirmation bias, cognitive bias, conventional wisdom, popular culture, prejudice, sectarianism, tradition, urban legend, and all other dogmas. Regarding religion, freethinkers often hold that there is insufficient evidence to support the existence of supernatural phenomena.[2]
Free thought can be as agreed by a consensus, but above all, to each their own. Many people can form for themselves things that have been integrated by personal significance that may not be available to an outsider perspective on ones own experience of the world. This is apparently rare.
A line from "Clifford's Credo" by the 19th Century British mathematician and philosopher William Kingdon Clifford perhaps best describes the premise of freethought: "It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freethought
Freethought may hold that individuals should not accept ideas proposed as truth without recourse to knowledge and reason. Thus, freethinkers strive to build their opinions on the basis of facts, scientific inquiry, and logical principles, independent of any logical fallacies or intellectually limiting effects of authority, confirmation bias, cognitive bias, conventional wisdom, popular culture, prejudice, sectarianism, tradition, urban legend, and all other dogmas. Regarding religion, freethinkers often hold that there is insufficient evidence to support the existence of supernatural phenomena.[2]
Free thought can be as agreed by a consensus, but above all, to each their own. Many people can form for themselves things that have been integrated by personal significance that may not be available to an outsider perspective on ones own experience of the world. This is apparently rare.
A line from "Clifford's Credo" by the 19th Century British mathematician and philosopher William Kingdon Clifford perhaps best describes the premise of freethought: "It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freethought