Free Thought: Is It a Virtue?

Liberal and conservative institutions alike have always enshrined free thought as a virtue. At Amherst, where diversity of thoughts and opinions is highly prized, imposing institutional restrictions on what could be said, expressed or believed ranks as one of our highest sins. But I’d like to take this “free thought” that we value so much and lay it across the table, bare and questioned. What exactly is “free thought,” how is it different from free speech and what is it good for anyway? As is m

Free Thought: Is It a Virtue?

Liberal and conservative institutions alike have always enshrined free thought as a virtue. At Amherst, where diversity of thoughts and opinions is highly prized, imposing institutional restrictions on what could be said, expressed or believed ranks as one of our highest sins. But I’d like to take this “free thought” that we value so much and lay it across the table, bare and questioned. What exactly is “free thought,” how is it different from free speech and what is it good for anyway? As is