Freethought is a philosophical viewpoint that holds that beliefs should be formed on the basis of science and logic and should not be influenced by emotion, authority, tradition, or any dogma. ~WikipediaWhy exactly is it called freethought? Free from what? Free to do what?
Okay, free from the pressures of authority, tradition, dogma. That's all well and good. But strictly bounded by science and logic? Isn't that confining human thought? These freethinkers...are they virtuous only in looking at the world through the goggles of science and logic. Are there no other ways of thinking that are to be praised?
Gosh. That Wikipedia notion of freethought (is there a better one I should know about?) really seems to cause trouble for all sorts of human thinking. Firstly, how can a person ensure that their thoughts are purified of emotion and other such human characteristics? Secondly, in trying to purify our thoughts of emotional baggage and otherwise, aren't we trying to blot out a part of what makes us human beings? What, so maybe being human isn't all that great? And we should try to transcend ourselves through freethinking...? Become something no longer human - something better? What would that be like, 'cause, as we are, with all our logic and rationality we feel; and sometimes it's hurt, and sometimes it's ecstasy. Hurting and elation are limitations on our thinking? They aren't merely aspects of our thinking?
What good are reason and logic separated from all the interesting content of human life? Since when can any "good" or "bad" be found in the principles of reason and logic? Again - I keep coming to the conclusion that we would cease to be human if reduced to "creatures" of pure reason or "freethinking." A kind of wholly amoral existence.
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