A History of Freedom of Thought

A History of Freedom of Thought

Project Gutenberg's A History of Freedom of Thought, by John Bagnell
Bury This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: A History of Freedom of Thought
Author: John Bagnell Bury
Release Date: January 11, 2004 [EBook #10684]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A
HISTORY OF FREEDOM OF THOUGHT ***

Produced by Jeffrey Kraus-yao.

Note: Numbers enclosed in square brackets are page numbers.
HOME UNIVERSITY LIBRARY OF MODERN KNOWLEDGE
No. 69

Editors:
HERBERT FISHER, M.A., F.B.A. Prof. GILBERT MURRAY, Litt.D.,
LL.D., F.B.A. Prof. J. ARTHUR THOMSON, M.A. Prof. WILLIAM T.
BREWSTER, M.A.

A HISTORY OF FREEDOM OF THOUGHT
BY
J. B. BURY, M.A., F.B.A
HON. D.LITT. OF OXFORD, DURHAM, AND DUBLIN, AND HON.
LL.D. OF EDINBURGH, GLASGOW, AND ABERDEEN
UNIVERSITIES; REGIUS PROFESSOR OF MODERN HISTORY,
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY
AUTHOR OF “HISTORY OF THE LATTER ROMAN EMPIRE,”
“HISTORY OF GREECE,” “HISTORY OF THE EASTERN ROMAN
EMPIRE,” ETC.

[IV]
1913,

[V] CONTENTS
CHAP.
I Introductory II Reason Free (Greece And Rome) III Reason in Prison
(The Middle Ages) IV Prospect of Deliverance (The Renaissance and
the Reformation) V Religious Toleration VI The Growth of
Rationalism (Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries) VII The Progress
of Rationalism (Nineteenth Century) VIII The Justification of Liberty

of Thought Bibliography Index
[7] A HISTORY OF FREEDOM OF THOUGHT

CHAPTER I
FREEDOM OF THOUGHT AND THE FORCES AGAINST IT
(INTRODUCTORY)
IT is a common saying that thought is free. A man can never be
hindered from thinking whatever he chooses so long as he conceals
what he thinks. The working of his mind is limited only by the bounds
of his experience and the power of his imagination. But this natural
liberty of private thinking is of little value. It is unsatisfactory and even
painful to the thinker himself, if he is not permitted to communicate his
thoughts to others, and it is obviously of no value to his neighbours.
Moreover it is extremely difficult to hide thoughts that have any power
over the mind. If a man’s thinking leads him to call in question ideas
and customs which regulate the behaviour of those about him, to reject
beliefs which they hold, to see better ways of life than those they
follow, it is almost
[8] impossible for him, if he is convinced of the truth of his own
reasoning, not to betray by silence, chance words, or general attitude
that he is different from them and does not share their opinions. Some
have preferred, like Socrates, some would prefer to-day, to face death
rather than conceal their thoughts. Thus freedom of thought, in any
valuable sense, includes freedom of speech.
At present, in the most civilized countries, freedom of speech is taken
as a matter of course and seems a perfectly simple thing. We are so
accustomed to it that we look on it as a natural right. But this right has
been acquired only in quite recent times, and the way to its attainment
has lain through lakes of blood. It has taken centuries to persuade the
most enlightened peoples that liberty to publish one’s opinions and to

discuss all questions is a good and not a bad thing. Human societies
(there are some brilliant exceptions) have been generally opposed to
freedom of thought, or, in other words, to new ideas, and it is easy to
see why.
The average brain is naturally lazy and tends to take the line of least
resistance. The mental world of the ordinary man consists of beliefs
which he has accepted without questioning and to which he is firmly
attached; he is instinctively hostile to anything which
[9] would upset the established order of this familiar world. A new idea,
inconsistent with some of the beliefs which he holds, means the
necessity of rearranging his mind; and this process is laborious,
requiring a painful expenditure of brain-energy. To him and his fellows,
who form the vast majority, new ideas, and opinions which cast doubt
on established beliefs and institutions, seem evil because they are
disagreeable.
The repugnance due to mere mental laziness is increased by a positive
feeling of fear. The conservative instinct hardens into the conservative
doctrine that the foundations of society are endangered by any
alterations in the structure. It is only recently that men have been
abandoning the belief that the welfare of a state depends on rigid
stability and on the preservation of its traditions and institutions
unchanged. Wherever that belief prevails, novel opinions are felt to be
dangerous as well as annoying, and