Freedom of Thought Information

Freedom of thought (also called the freedom of conscience or ideas) is the freedom of an individual to hold or consider a fact, viewpoint, or thought, independent of others' viewpoints.

It is different from and not to be confused with the concept of freedom of speech or expression.

Overview

'Freedom of thought' is the derivative of and thus is closely linked to other liberties: freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom of expression. It is a very important concept in the western world and nearly all democratic constitutions protect these freedoms. For instance, the U.S. 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". A US Supreme Court Justice (Benjamin Cardozo) reasoned in Palko v. Connecticut (1937) that:

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.^[1]

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, 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 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."^[2] 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..."

Suppression

The obvious impediment to censoring thought is that it is impossible to know with certainty what another person is thinking, and harder to regulate it. Many famous historical works recognize this. The Bible summarizes in Ecclesiastes 8:8: "There is no man that has power over the spirit, to retain it; neither has he power in the day of death." A similar sentiment is expressed in the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament, where he likens those who attempt to control the emotions of their neighbours to "the children in the marketplace" who try to produce dancing with a happy song and mourning with a dirge, and then express frustration at their futility in trying to do so (Matthew 11:16). The concept is developed more specifically in the writings of Paul ("For why should my freedom [eleutheria] be judged by another's conscience [suneideseos]?" 1 Corinthians 10:29.)

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".^[3]

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 the strict limits on freedom of expression imposed by the Communist governments of the Peoples Republic of China and Cuba.

Freedom of expression can also be stifled without institutional interference when majority views become so widely accepted that the entire culture represses dissenting views. For this reason, some condemn political correctness as a form of limiting freedom of thought. Although political correctness aims to give minority views equal representation, the majority view itself can be politically correct; for example, college student Max Karson was arrested following the Virginia Tech shootings for politically incorrect comments that authorities saw as "sympathetic to the killer." Karson's arrest raised important questions regarding freedom of thought and whether or not it applies in times of tragedy.

The Sapir–Whorf hypothesis, which states that thought is inherently 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. This was explored in George Orwell's novel 1984, with the idea of Newspeak, a stripped-down form of the English language lacking the capacity for metaphor and limiting expression of original ideas.

Internet censorship

Some countries, like Cambodia^[4] , Iran,^[5] Saudi Arabia, Egypt,^[6] China, Sweden, Germany, Australia, United States and others^[7] attempt to control and censor information on the World Wide Web. In October 2006, Iranian mullahs ordered internet service providers to reduce connection speeds for home and cafe computers. ^[8] In Canada, Australia and UK, internet content is voluntarily censored by ISP's.^[9]

In June 2011 the Cambodian Center for Human Rights released a report "Internet Censorship: the ongoing crackdown on freedom of expression in Cambodia,”. In it the group warned of a “recent trend toward Internet censorship and the grave implications for freedom of expression in Cambodia.^[10] As of June 16 2011 local Cambodian Internet Service Providers Metfone, PPCTV, Ezecom are blocking access to the blogspot.com due to the fact an opposition website posts material the Cambodian People's Party finds a threat to its rule. Mobitel and Hello are not currently blocking the blogspot.com domain.

Other effects of the Internet on freedom of thought

In an issue distinct from deliberate censorship by the authorities, another aspect of the implications of the Internet for freedom of thought is the effect of user personalised content delivery (including but not limited to online advertising), an idea written about by Eli Pariser, in a 2011 book, entitled: The filter bubble : what the Internet is hiding from you.^[11]

Psychiatry

CIA mind control research called Project_MKULTRA is the most famous use of psychiatry to alter human thought. Psychiatry used Lobotomy in an attempt to physically control the thoughts of their patients. The Nobel prize was awarded in 1949 for this medical procedure. Today psychiatrists use antipsychotic medicines , or they can use E.C.T. to control the thoughts of their patients.

See also

• Internet censorship in the United States
• Censorship in Iran
• Censorship in Saudi Arabia
• Free speech zone
• Free will
• Freethought
• Four Freedoms - a speech by US President Franklin Roosevelt
• Golden Shield Project (internet censorship in China)
• Hate crime
• Intellectual freedom
• Internet censorship in the United Kingdom
• Neuroethics
• Public opinion
• Prisoner of conscience
• Thoughtcrime
• State of World Liberty Index

References and notes

1. ^ Palko v. State of Connecticut, 302 U.S. 319 (1937).
2. ^ "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. http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/0/9a30112c27d1167cc12563ed004d8f15?Opendocument. Retrieved 2007-10-21.
3. ^ Brimacombe, Peter (2000). All the Queen's Men: The World of Elizabeth I. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 125. ISBN 0312232519.
4. ^ http://www.thinking21.org/?p=192
5. ^ Iranian bloggers rally against censorship BBC News 11 December 2003
6. ^ Egyptian blogger sentenced to jail Al Jazeera 22 February 2007
7. ^ Internet Censorship - law & policy around the world
8. ^ Blocking Information In Iran Voice of America
9. ^ Internet Censorship - law & policy around the world
10. ^ http://www.voanews.com/khmer-english/news/Group-Warns-Against-Web-Censorship-123841479.html
11. ^ Pariser, Eli (2011). The filter bubble : what the Internet is hiding from you. New York: Penguin Press. ISBN 9781594203008. http://books.google.com/books?id=wcalrOI1YbQC.

Further reading

1. George Botterill and Peter Carruthers, 'The Philosophy of Psychology', Cambridge University Press (1999), p3
2. The Hon. Sir John Laws, 'The Limitations of Human Rights', [1998] P. L. Summer, Sweet & Maxwell and Contributors, p260

External links

• Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Academic Freedom
• 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 - E-book online (Copyright expired)

Categories: Political correctness | Human rights by issue | Censorship

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