Free Thought 1911/1

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Freedom of Thought and Order in our Society

Free thinking - this is the essence of a wide variety of definitions - is an endeavor to establish truths exclusively by the methods of scientific inquiry and logic. Is this not self-evident, is truth-finding different? Along with rational and logical reasoning, in everyday life as well as in science, alogical aspects play a huge role. We accept most of the truth not because we have examined it and found it right with the instruments of thought, but because we have it ready from others and believe in it. A very small proportion of opinion coins come from the workshop of reason, and most thought money comes from the mint of authority. The fight for free thinking is therefore primarily a struggle against the social forces that prevent the scientific, critical thinking.

One of the oldest and most powerful authorities is the Church. Perhaps it is the one that floods society with unverifiable and unreviewed items. The most impatient and most organized church is Roman Catholic. Therefore, the [17] movement of free-thinkers is strongest in Catholic states, and in the eyes of many free-thinking is in tune with anti-clericalism. Undoubtedly, breaking the authority of the church, which primarily means withdrawing state support and recognition and releasing the school from the influence of the church, would give a great impetus to free thought. And Hungarian free-thinkers should strive to weaken the power of the church, because in our country the compromise between Catholicism and Protestantism did not greatly mitigate the power of clericalism, but merely masked its effects.

Although apparently weaker than clericalism, it is in fact perhaps the stronger social enemy of free thinking in the absence of political democracy. Free, science-only science is critical. Criticism, the strong friction of opinions, can only spread where state power does not create significant barriers, and the freedom of assembly, association and the press promotes the development of science more effectively than state subsidies. And he favors the idea of ​​free thinking more than any grumbler who pursues it, who fights against the advance seizure of press products, newspaper confiscation, punishment of incitement, who fights for freedom of conviction and not for the religious acceptance of religions, to be distributed. In fact, he is also expressing free-thinking propaganda for the most democratic electorate. Not only because, without this, the existence of any papyrus freedoms in life is not assured, but because the practice of political criticism promotes critical thinking in the masses and contributes to the transformation of the masses and women into a progressive force. And no matter how subtle a few souls may be, their boredom, unanimously pronounced and stunted, is more than any aesthetic refinement of a truly aesthetic and scientific culture. Alfred Kerr, an excellent aesthetic of the Germans wrote in connection with the Jagow case that Prussian feudalism was an obstacle to any true artistic culture. This applies even more to science. Not for a really big scientific culture the only but essential condition is political democracy.

Democracy is only one of the preconditions for the spread of free thought. More importantly, increasing the free time of the masses and improving their wealth. One of the most important springs of the suggestive effect of authority, the rooting of any acquired perception, is the idleness of thought. And the masses who are overworked and overwhelmed by financial problems are reluctant to take the mental pain of revising their views. This truth is not denied by the rising from the depths a rare exception for excellent people. The truly and sincere freethinker must first and foremost fight to change the social order that enables the masses today, and to reform any social order that restricts child labor, reduces the working time of adults, and reduces the income distribution [18] classes. The right to strike is securing industrial and agricultural labor, combating dearness, solving our burning peasant and latifundium issue further the development of the scientific spirit than a lot of rural universities or any academic foundation. Not only because it increases the well-being of the masses, but because it reduces the emigration of the most widespread. Not only because it creates human life in the countryside, but also because it enhances industrial and urban development by increasing consumer capacity. And in our day, cities are the most powerful productive areas for free thinking.

The illusion of a part of free thinkers is shared by one who replies that the stupidity of the masses does not exclude the free soaring of the spirit of distinguished thinkers. The spiritual sluggishness of the masses feeds on the impatience of the Church and the state, and the resistance of the mass media hampers the spread of new ideas. In his study Freedom of Thought and Ancient Mass Domination, Gyula Schvarcz shows that the uncultured masses of ancient democracies as a hindrance to Greek thought in its development. And in our day, we think even Kant, Darwin, Spencer would not have thought differently about the issue and dared to express their thoughts differently if the steep church and state authority and the wilderness of the masses had not prevented the free flow of the air of thought in their society. . Art and scientific thinking are not one its reactionary twist is part of the phenomenon that a closer approach to the church appears to be more noble and subtle because of the unculturedness of the large masses, and souls with an aristocratic inclination unwittingly fall into seemingly subtle, in fact, primitive lines of thought. Freedom of thought is not possible with the bondage of work. The lush harvest of true science can only emanate from the baths of economic prosperity in the light of political freedom.
Zoltán Rónai

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Issue Informations

Src: http://mtdaportal.extra.hu/szabadgondolat/1911/1911_01.pdf
Original Publication: Szabadgondolat, 1.1, January 1911
Other Languages:

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DE
FR	Libre Pensée 1911/1
ES	El Pensamiento Libre 1911/1