Freedom of thought
Freedom of thought, freedom of thinking, especially in ideological and political matters. The term is also found in other languages (English: freedom of thought, French: liberté de penser or liberté de la pensée etc ).
Origin
Originally, the freedom of thought in the sense of freedom, ie the freedom to express his thoughts aloud and publicly, a privilege of the ruling, which they awarded only in exceptional cases also their subjects. From the late Middle Ages here and there, the idea begins to enforce that all subjects or their advocates should when demanding the right to freedom of thought necessary independently. Embodies we find this idea, for example, in Friedrich Schiller's play Don Carlos, where the Marquis of Posa requires the absolutist ruling King Philip II: Give freedom of thought ( 3215f. ).
Posa or Schiller represents here the view that freedom of expression may be extracted from the natural law and should be guaranteed by the state. Immanuel Kant argued in his essay What is Enlightenment?, That freedom of expression (and thus the freedom of thought ) in the age of enlightened absolutism would not be fought because they like Friedrich will the Great long been guaranteed by "good, enlightened princes ". A " ungracious " redemption of such freedom as found was practiced by Frederick 's successors in office of the Prussian king, however, is ruled out against Kant's claim only in a developed, stable rule of law.
The ideal
Mid-19th century is complete in the German speaking this development. The ideal place in Hoffmann von Faller life processing of the folk song The thoughts are free to be a symbol. All its aspects are found in adequate expression. The thoughts are not only free, they are also unfathomable (who can guess them ) and the knowledge locked (no man can know ). The powerful I guess what I want and what makes me happy, the poet can follow the moral boundary immediately: But everything in the stillness and the how. For true strength lies, as I knew the philosophers of antiquity, but in the mastery of his own is also not neglected in this image of the humor that wherever the realization of the ideal is to wrestling, plays a vital role: One can always laughing and joking in the heart. This is also another important aspect of freedom of thought to the course: the individuality.
The importance of this text for the idea of freedom of thought ersieht from the fact that the song in the German speaking various resistance movements has served as an inspiration and was used by migrant and student movements of all kinds as an anthem.
The situation today
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations states that everyone is entitled to freedom of thought has. The same claim is guaranteed in addition to all of Europe Member States in similar-sounding declarations of the ECHR.