free thought

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free thought

n.
Thought that rejects authority and dogma, especially in religion; freethinking.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

free thought

n
thought unrestrained and uninfluenced by dogma or authority, esp in religious matters
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

free′ thought′


n.
thought unrestrained by deference to authority, tradition, or established belief, esp. in matters of religion.
[1705–15]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.free thought - the form of theological rationalism that believes in God on the basis of reason without reference to revelation
rationalism - the theological doctrine that human reason rather than divine revelation establishes religious truth
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
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References in classic literature
There was also a man of reflection, who was much simpler but much stronger, who could not easily be stopped; whose thought was always (in the only intelligent sense of the words) free thought. He could not help, even unconsciously, asking himself all the questions that there were to be asked, and answering as many of them as he could; all that went on like his breathing or circulation.
The world is mind precipitated, and the volatile essence is forever escaping again into the state of free thought. Hence the virtue and pungency of the influence on the mind of natural objects, whether inorganic or organized.
He regarded this as a graceful concession to the prejudices of society and his refusal to go a second time as an adequate assertion of free thought.
Get in Write: View, Record, One Quay, Glasgow Or is free thought too much for the humanists to accept?
"So I understand the need to have free thought, but if your thoughts aren't researched, that is just going to hurt those that are still in conditions where it's not choice, that when they go down the street and there's a liqueur store and fast-food restaurants and your education is not being funded the same way that it is being in Calabasas, when governments stifle and limit the amount of money that goes to Chicago, Bronx, Watts, 5th Ward Mississippi, East Los Angeles, where I'm from."
Mob mentality is curbing what puts us above other beings; the free thought that we can exhibit.
He added, "Some readers may be surprised to hear an Islamic leader urging free thought. In the West, it is usually assumed that freethinkers are opposed to religion.
In his Friday sermon, al-Bouti called upon those who seek to drag societies into violence under the banner of the Islamic revolution to return to the teachings of religion before it is too late, adding that Islam preaches logical judgment and free thought.
So when you ask about how other countries view Great Britain, they will no doubt admire our free thought and expression, which incidentally enables me and others who have moved on into the 21st century, to write letters like this.
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