What is a Free Thinker? Does non free thinkers exist anyway to have such a lable as Free Thinker??

[Laika]

so who....or what....made you vote for Hillary?
and if that 'force' is prevalent.....how is the act of voting even a possibility?

You still have some "power" to make new decisions, but it is not 100% "free" in the sense of "free will". Its not as if you approach every decision completely open to new ideas or information. We select information and attach significance to it. Often we can disregard new information that conflicts without preconcieved beliefs as irrelevant or a low priority. That is determined by all the "baggage" of preconcieved ideas that come with us including childhood experiences. That sort of rigs it in a deterministic way.

E.g. I'm a brit, I cant vote in the US election but I still "care" about the result regardless of the fact I'm not an American or a Democrat.

 

[YmirGF]

free-think-er n. A person who forms opinions about religion on the basis of reason, independently of tradition, authority, or established belief. Freethinkers include atheists, agnostics and rationalists.
source

Freethinker: one who forms opinions on the basis of reason independently of authority; especially : one who doubts or denies religious dogma
Source:Merriam-Webster Dictionary


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This "free thinker" certainly subscribes to these definitions. I'd go further though and add that many of us do not recognize so-called "religious authority" and are somewhat repulsed by the very idea. That said, atheists, agnostics, rationalists and theists can be freethinkers. It takes more work if you are deeply entrenched in a given religious camp however.

 

[YmirGF]

but I make denial of religious dogma

Our own dogma, of a sorts, my friend?

 

[Augustus]

Free thought is an invention of european philosophy, probably the 17th/18th century. It is a derivation of earlier Christian theology in which man- made in the image of god- possesses free will and is based on philosophical dualism of mind and body, the soul and the material and in which the individual is "free" to interpret Christian theology upon the basis of "reason" and not the authority of scripture.

Not sure if I've ever encountered a contemporary, self-confessed 'Free Thinker' or a 'Rationalist' who has done anything other than out-of-hand dismiss the idea that their ideology is an offshoot of Judaism and Christianity because that would make it 'irrational' which is The Greatest Sin of All.

Or one that believes anything other than their own ideological outlook is the universal blueprint for Humanity and that anybody who disagrees with them does so out of backwardness or stupidity caused by their feeble minds.

It tends to be a form of intellectual narcissism pretending it is actually an evidence based detachment from primitive delusion.

 

[Willamena]

How did it come to be in the first place?

"Freethought or free thought is a philosophical viewpoint which holds that positions regarding truth should be formed on the basis of logic, reason, and empiricism, rather than authority, tradition, revelation, or other dogma. The cognitive application of freethought is known as "freethinking", and practitioners of freethought are known as "freethinkers". The term first came into use in the 17th century to indicate people who inquired into the basis of traditional religious beliefs."

 

[Willamena]

Do humans truly independent of tradition, authority, or established belief even exist? How's free thinking, as words with their meanings, related to denial of religious dogma, and don't all religious people do that already with other religions?

Ask Thoreau.

 

[Laika]

Not sure if I've ever encountered a contemporary, self-confessed 'Free Thinker' or a 'Rationalist' who has done anything other than out-of-hand dismiss the idea that their ideology is an offshoot of Judaism and Christianity because that would make it 'irrational' which is The Greatest Sin of All.

Or one that believes anything other than their own ideological outlook is the universal blueprint for Humanity and that anybody who disagrees with them does so out of backwardness or stupidity caused by their feeble minds.

It tends to be a form of intellectual narcissism pretending it is actually an evidence based detachment from primitive delusion.

I love how you say that with such self assurance of the subversive pleasure at undermining others delusions.

You've been doing this for a while haven't you?

 

[Smart_Guy]

Ask Thoreau.

Good thing the article says how to pronounce his name

 

[illykitty]

Oops, sorry. Drunk human beings don't

Some people don't like to question their beliefs (not only religion), some don't like to think (yes I've heard someone say they don't like to think it's too hard), some prefer to swallow everything preachers say rather than research things themselves, some prefer comfort/faith rather than reality, some are so sure of themselves that they refuse to think that they might be wrong, etc.

There's many reasons why not everyone is a Freethinker.

 

[Thief]

This "free thinker" certainly subscribes to these definitions. I'd go further though and add that many of us do not recognize so-called "religious authority" and are somewhat repulsed by the very idea. That said, atheists, agnostics, rationalists and theists can be freethinkers. It takes more work if you are deeply entrenched in a given religious camp however.

no Almighty then?
no greater form of life?

religious authority is one thing
Spiritual power is something else

and....'what if your words could be judged as a crime?'
(Creed)

 

[Quintessence]

Good question to ask, @Smart_Guy. It does seem to be a rather poorly-concieved term. The term does not make sense to me either, thus I do not use it.

 

[Augustus]

I love how you say that with such self assurance of the subversive pleasure at undermining others delusions.

You've been doing this for a while haven't you?

Long enough to know that few things in this world are less likely to be undermined than a Freethinker's faith in their own freethought or a Rationalist's faith in their own rationalism

 

[Skwim]

Doesn't every single human being form opinions about everything on the basis of their own reason? Do humans truly independent of tradition, authority, or established belief even exist? How's free thinking, as words with their meanings, related to denial of religious dogma, and don't all religious people do that already with other religions? As for the English part, is it Freethinker (one word) or Free Thinker (two words), or both are there?

I'm not debating the above, I just want to know your views on them. Thank you for sharing.

Freethinker, the correct spelling as a "label," (the use as described in your question) is not meant to simply designate someone who has the freedom to think whatever they want, but rather "a person who forms opinions about religion on the basis of reason, independently of tradition, authority, or established belief. Freethinkers include atheists, agnostics and rationalists."

Want to use free thinker (two words) to describe someone who has the freedom to think whatever they want, or whatever, fine. But as a label, and properly spelled "freethinker" (one word), it has the much more specific meaning.


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[Smart_Guy]

Some people don't like to question their beliefs (not only religion), some don't like to think (yes I've heard someone say they don't like to think it's too hard), some prefer to swallow everything preachers say rather than research things themselves, some prefer comfort/faith rather than reality, some are so sure of themselves that they refuse to think that they might be wrong, etc.

There's many reasons why not everyone is a Freethinker.

Hmm... free thinking is a mental state, not and action. I still see that all of the above examples go by all definition of free thinking provided in this thread. At least if I been thru all of the above, I'd still see it does not affect my thinking state. But I could be wrong. That's only the way I'm convinced it is. That why asked why the way the term is made does not have the words in it related to the definition(s) provided.

 

[Smart_Guy]

Freethinker, the correct spelling as a "label," (the use as described in your question) is not meant to simply designate someone who has the freedom to think whatever they want, but rather "a person who forms opinions about religion on the basis of reason, independently of tradition, authority, or established belief. Freethinkers include atheists, agnostics and rationalists."

Want to use free thinker (two words) to describe someone who has the freedom to think whatever they want, or whatever, fine. But as a label, and properly spelled "freethinker" (one word), it has the much more specific meaning.

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Cool! Much obliged.

Yes, that's the definition my replies were based on really. I was asking about the term itself and how it should be (or possibly) spelled, not the different meanings of the possible combinations.

 

[wicketkeeper]

My current opinion is that we are flesh computerised mechanical robots. Free thinking and free will are both lies. We are all sleepwalking our way through Life.

 

[Smart_Guy]

My current opinion is that we are flesh computerised mechanical robots. Free thinking and free will are both lies. We are all sleepwalking our way through Life.

I think it is more complicated than just having them or not having them. If we have full will, we would realize every single thing we ever want (and we cannot), and if we don't have a will and thought at all, then just staying still (e.g. not work to earn a living) and let things happen on their own since supposedly we really cannot make a difference, is the right thing to do (yet it is not). I believe we are both, destined for fates we cannot change, and have free will and thought until the destiny we don't know yet unfolds.

But that's not specifically the topic meant by the OP.

 

[wicketkeeper]

I think it is more complicated than just having them or not having them. If we have full will, we would realize every single thing we ever want (and we cannot), and if we don't have a will and thought at all, then just staying still (e.g. not work to earn a living) and let things happen on their own since supposedly we really cannot make a difference, is the right thing to do (yet it is not). I believe we are both, destined for fates we cannot change, and have free will and thought until the destiny we don't know yet unfolds.

But that's not specifically the topic meant by the OP.

I should have pre faced my post was I don't agree with your OP.

What we do is soak up signal from our surroundings and then evolve whats been soakted in. We begin in the womb by soaking in our mothers' emotions and thoughts and actions, the father aslo has an input on the baby. So when the baby is born he/she is a collection of what they soaked up.

 

[Jonathan Ainsley Bain]

Hello RF'ers!

So?

I personally think that all humans are already free thinkers and such a label as Free Thinker (with caps) is just redundant and non working.

How did it come to be in the first place?

One cannot possibly understand something, until one has thought about it.
So to think must be something freely chosen.
Because if thinking were not a free choice, then it would be based on the notion that we already
know about that which we have not yet thought about.

 

[Milton Platt]

I am not a free thinker. I don't believe in free will so i am not "free" to exchange one idea for another based purely on reason. I accept materialism essentially as a dogma upon which most of my other beliefs rely on.

Free thought is an invention of european philosophy, probably the 17th/18th century. It is a derivation of earlier Christian theology in which man- made in the image of god- possesses free will and is based on philosophical dualism of mind and body, the soul and the material and in which the individual is "free" to interpret Christian theology upon the basis of "reason" and not the authority of scripture. If there is no god- man cannot immitate god in having a soul or "free will".

In order for thought to be "free" in the metaphysical sense it must not be constrained by physical limitations such as our material interests, our emotions (in opposition to a "pure reason") as well as not being constrained by the physical processes of the brain and development of neurological connections. Think of it as if people's ideas evolve as neurons connect and there is "resistence" to new information because thinking is a physical process involving the brain- not a "pure" one existing in an abstract realm of pure thought or sensation. I have the power to change my ideas- but it has physical limitations. Its not eqivilent to a metaphysical conception of "freedom".

If you don't believe in a soul and therefore do not treat the mind as something seperate or independent from matter, thought is determined- not free.

The belief in Free thought and reason are secular hangovers of religious dogmas.

Down with Reason!

That is not the definition of the word. See the post above yours.