# Freethought

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Not to be confused with [Freedom of thought](/source/Freedom_of_thought) or [Free will](/source/Free_will).

For other uses, see [Free thought (disambiguation)](/source/Free_thought_(disambiguation)).

Position that beliefs should be formed only on the basis of logic, reason, and empiricism

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**Freethought** (sometimes spelled **free thought**) is a [social movement](/source/Social_movement) espousing unorthodox attitudes and beliefs,[1] formed independently from [authority](/source/Authority), [tradition](/source/Tradition), [revelation](/source/Revelation), or [dogma](/source/Dogma).[2]

The [cognitive](/source/Cognitive) application of free thought is known as **freethinking**, and adherents of freethought are known as **freethinkers**,[2] which the *[Collins English Dictionary](/source/Collins_English_Dictionary)* defines as someone "mentally free from the conventional bonds of tradition or dogma, and thinks independently." In some contemporary thought in particular, free thought is strongly tied with rejection of traditional social or religious belief systems.[3][2][4] Freethinkers hold that knowledge should be grounded in facts, [scientific inquiry](/source/Scientific_method), and logic. The skeptical application of science implies freedom from the intellectually limiting effects of [confirmation bias](/source/Confirmation_bias), [cognitive bias](/source/Cognitive_bias), [conventional wisdom](/source/Conventional_wisdom), [popular culture](/source/Popular_culture), [prejudice](/source/Prejudice), or [sectarianism](/source/Sectarianism).[5]

The term first came into use in the 17th century in order to refer to people who inquired into the basis of traditional beliefs which were often accepted unquestioningly. Today, freethinking is most closely linked with [agnosticism](/source/Agnosticism), [deism](/source/Deism), [secularism](/source/Secularism), [humanism](/source/Humanism), [anti-clericalism](/source/Anti-clericalism), and [religious critique](/source/Religious_critique).[6]

## Definition

Atheist author Adam Lee defines freethought as thinking which is independent of revelation, tradition, established belief, and [authority](/source/Argument_from_authority),[7] and considers it as a "broader umbrella" than atheism "that embraces a rainbow of unorthodoxy, religious dissent, skepticism, and unconventional thinking."[8][9]

The basic summarizing statement of the essay *The Ethics of Belief* by the 19th-century British mathematician and philosopher [William Kingdon Clifford](/source/William_Kingdon_Clifford) is: "It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence."[10] The essay became a rallying cry for freethinkers when published in the 1870s, and has been described as a point when freethinkers grabbed the moral high ground.[11] Clifford was himself an organizer of freethought gatherings, the driving force behind the Congress of Liberal Thinkers held in 1878.

Regarding [religion](/source/Religion), freethinkers typically hold that there is insufficient evidence to support the existence of [supernatural](/source/Supernatural) phenomena.[12] According to the [Freedom from Religion Foundation](/source/Freedom_from_Religion_Foundation), "No one can be a freethinker who demands conformity to a bible, [creed](/source/Creed), or [messiah](/source/Messiah). To the freethinker, revelation and faith are invalid, and orthodoxy is no guarantee of truth." and "Freethinkers are convinced that religious claims have not withstood the tests of reason. Not only is there nothing to be gained by believing an untruth, but there is everything to lose when we sacrifice the indispensable tool of reason on the altar of superstition. Most freethinkers consider religion to be not only untrue, but harmful."[13]

Bust of [Bertrand Russell](/source/Bertrand_Russell) in London

Philosopher [Bertrand Russell](/source/Bertrand_Russell) wrote in his 1944 essay *The Value of Free Thought* that someone is considered a freethinker only if their beliefs are supported by evidence rather than bias, regardless of how odd their conclusions may seem. According to Russell, a freethinker is not necessarily an atheist or an agnostic, as long as they are free from the "force of tradition" and the "tyranny of [their] own passions".[14]

[Fred Edwords](/source/Fred_Edwords), former executive of the [American Humanist Association](/source/American_Humanist_Association), suggests that by Russell's definition, [liberal religionists](/source/Liberal_religion) who have challenged established orthodoxies can be considered freethinkers.[15]

On the other hand, according to [Bertrand Russell](/source/Bertrand_Russell), atheists and/or agnostics are not necessarily freethinkers. As an example, he mentions [Stalin](/source/Joseph_Stalin), whom he compares to a "[pope](/source/Pope)":

what I am concerned with is the doctrine of the modern Communistic Party, and of the Russian Government to which it owes allegiance. According to this doctrine, the world develops on the lines of a Plan called [Dialectical Materialism](/source/Dialectical_Materialism), first discovered by [Karl Marx](/source/Karl_Marx), embodied in the practice of a great state by [Lenin](/source/Vladimir_Lenin), and now expounded from day to day by a Church of which Stalin is the Pope. […] Free discussion is to be prevented wherever the power to do so exists; […] If this doctrine and this organization prevail, free inquiry will become as impossible as it was in the middle ages, and the world will relapse into bigotry and obscurantism.

In the 18th and 19th century, many thinkers regarded as freethinkers were [deists](/source/Deists), arguing that [the nature of God](/source/Outline_of_Christian_theology) can only be known from a study of nature rather than from religious revelation. In the 18th century, "deism" was as much of a 'dirty word' as "atheism", and deists were often stigmatized as either atheists or at least as freethinkers by their Christian opponents.[16][17] Deists today regard themselves as freethinkers, but are now arguably less prominent in the freethought movement than atheists.

## Characteristics

Tombstone detail of a freethinker, late 19th century (Cemetery of Cullera, Spain)

Among freethinkers, for a notion to be considered true it must be testable, [verifiable](/source/Verifiability_(science)), and logical. Many freethinkers tend to be [humanists](/source/Humanism), who base [morality](/source/Morality) on human needs and would find [meaning](/source/Meaning_of_life) in human [compassion](/source/Compassion), [social progress](/source/Social_progress), art, personal happiness, love, and the furtherance of [knowledge](/source/Knowledge). Generally, freethinkers like to think for themselves, tend to be skeptical, respect [critical thinking](/source/Critical_thinking) and reason, remain open to new concepts, and are sometimes proud of their own [individuality](/source/Individuality). They would determine truth for themselves – based upon knowledge they gain, answers they receive, experiences they have and the balance they thus acquire. Freethinkers reject [conformity](/source/Conformity) for the sake of conformity, whereby they create their own beliefs by considering the way the world around them works and would possess the intellectual integrity and courage to think outside of accepted [norms](/source/Social_norm), which may or may not lead them to believe in some [higher power](/source/Deity).[18]

## Symbol

[Pansy](/source/Pansy) is a symbol of freethought.

The [pansy](/source/Pansy) serves as the long-established and enduring symbol of freethought; literature of the [American Secular Union](/source/American_Secular_Union) inaugurated its usage in the late 1800s. The reasoning behind the pansy as the symbol of freethought lies both in the flower's name and in its appearance. The pansy derives its name from the [French](/source/French_language) word *pensée*, which means "thought". It allegedly received this name because the flower is perceived by some to bear resemblance to a human face, and in mid-to-late summer it nods forward as if deep in thought.[19] In the 1880s, following examples set by freethinkers in France, Belgium, Spain and Sweden, it was proposed in the United States as "the symbol of religious liberty and freedom of conscience".[19]

## History

Modern freethinkers, despite their pronounced rejection of tradition, consider several historical movements, developments and individuals as pre-modern precursors, such as critical thought in [Ancient Greece](/source/Ancient_Greece), repositories of knowledge and wisdom in [Ireland](/source/Ireland) and in the [Iranian](/source/Iran) civilizations (for example in the era of [Khayyam](/source/Omar_Khayy%C3%A1m) (1048–1131) and his unorthodox [Sufi](/source/Sufism) [*Rubaiyat*](/source/Rubaiyat_of_Omar_Khayyam) poems). Later societies made advances on [freedom of thought](/source/Freedom_of_thought) such as the Chinese (note for example the seafaring renaissance of the [Southern Song](/source/Song_dynasty) dynasty of 1127–1279),[20] on through [heretical](/source/Heresy) thinkers on esoteric [alchemy](/source/Alchemy) or [astrology](/source/Astrology), to the [Renaissance](/source/Renaissance) and the [Protestant Reformation](/source/Protestant_Reformation) pioneered by [Martin Luther](/source/Martin_Luther).[21][22]

French physician [Rabelais](/source/Fran%C3%A7ois_Rabelais) (died 1553) celebrated "rabelaisian" freedom as well as good feasting and drinking (an expression and a symbol of freedom of the mind) in defiance of the hypocrisies of [conformist](/source/Conformist) [orthodoxy](/source/Orthodoxy) in his [utopian](/source/Utopian) [Thelema](/source/Thelema#Fran.C3.A7ois_Rabelais) Abbey (from θέλημα: free "will"), the device of which was *Do What Thou Wilt*:

So had Gargantua established it. In all their rule and strictest tie of their order there was but this one clause to be observed, Do What Thou Wilt; because free people ... act virtuously and avoid vice. They call this honor.

When Rabelais's hero [Pantagruel](/source/Gargantua_and_Pantagruel) journeys to the "Oracle of The Div(in)e Bottle", he learns the lesson of life in one simple word: *"Trinch!"*, Drink! Enjoy the simple life, learn wisdom and knowledge, as a free human. Beyond puns, irony, and satire, Gargantua's prologue-[metaphor](/source/Metaphor) instructs the reader to "break the bone and suck out the substance-full marrow" ("*la substantifique moëlle*"), the core of wisdom.

Modern freethinkers also consider the execution of [pantheistic](/source/Pantheism) writer and former [Dominican](/source/Dominican_Order) friar [Giordano Bruno](/source/Giordano_Bruno) by the [Inquisition](/source/Inquisition) in 1600 a landmark.[23][24][25]

### Australia

Prior to [World War II](/source/World_War_II), Australia had high rates of Protestantism and Catholicism. Post-war Australia has become a highly [secularised](/source/Secularization) country. [Donald Horne](/source/Donald_Horne), one of Australia's well-known [public intellectuals](/source/Public_intellectuals), believed rising prosperity in post-war Australia influenced the decline in church-going and general lack of interest in religion. "Churches no longer matter very much to most Australians. If there is a happy eternal life it's for everyone ... For many Australians the pleasures of this life are sufficiently satisfying that religion offers nothing of great appeal", said Horne in his landmark work *[The Lucky Country](/source/The_Lucky_Country)* (1964).[26]

### Canada

In 1873, a handful of secularists founded the earliest known secular organization in [English Canada](/source/English_Canada), the Toronto Freethought Association. Reorganized in 1877 and again in 1881, when it was renamed the Toronto Secular Society, the group formed the nucleus of the Canadian Secular Union, established in 1884 to bring together freethinkers from across the country.[27]

A significant number of the early members appear to have come from the educated labour "aristocracy", including Alfred F. Jury, J. Ick Evans and J. I. Livingstone, all of whom were leading labour activists and secularists. The second president of the Toronto association, [T. Phillips Thompson](/source/T._Phillips_Thompson), became a central figure in the city's labour and social-reform movements during the 1880s and 1890s and arguably Canada's foremost late nineteenth-century labour intellectual. By the early 1880s scattered freehought organizations operated throughout southern [Ontario](/source/Ontario) and parts of [Quebec](/source/Quebec), eliciting both urban and rural support.

The principal organ of the freethought movement in Canada was *[Secular Thought](/source/Secular_Thought)* (Toronto, 1887–1911). Founded and edited during its first several years by English freethinker [Charles Watts](/source/Charles_Watts_(secularist)) (1835–1906), it came under the editorship of Toronto printer and publisher James Spencer Ellis in 1891 when Watts returned to England. In 1968 the [Humanist Association of Canada](/source/Humanist_Association_of_Canada) (HAC) formed to serve as an umbrella group for humanists, atheists, and freethinkers, and to champion social justice issues and oppose religious influence on public policy—most notably in the fight to make access to abortion free and legal in Canada.

### France

*Hommage aux morts de la Libre-pensée*, 1881

In France, the concept first appeared in publication in 1765 when [Denis Diderot](/source/Denis_Diderot), [Jean le Rond d'Alembert](/source/Jean_le_Rond_d'Alembert), and [Voltaire](/source/Voltaire) included an article on *Liberté de penser* in their [Encyclopédie](/source/Encyclop%C3%A9die).[28] The concept of freethought spread so widely that even places as remote as the [Jotunheimen](/source/Jotunheimen), in [Norway](/source/Norway), had well-known freethinkers such as [Jo Gjende](/source/Jo_Gjende) by the 19th century.[29]

[François-Jean Lefebvre de la Barre](/source/Fran%C3%A7ois-Jean_de_la_Barre) (1745–1766) was a young [French](/source/France) nobleman, famous for having been [tortured](/source/Torture) and [beheaded](/source/Decapitated) before his body was burnt on a [pyre](/source/Pyre) along with Voltaire's *[Philosophical Dictionary](/source/Philosophical_Dictionary)*. La Barre is often said to have been executed for not saluting a [Roman Catholic](/source/Roman_Catholic) religious procession, but the elements of the case were far more complex.[30]

In France, Lefebvre de la Barre is widely regarded a symbol of the victims of Christian [religious intolerance](/source/Religious_intolerance); La Barre along with [Jean Calas](/source/Jean_Calas) and [Pierre-Paul Sirven](/source/Pierre-Paul_Sirven), was championed by Voltaire. A second replacement statue to de la Barre stands nearby the [Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Paris](/source/Sacr%C3%A9-C%C5%93ur%2C_Paris) at the summit of the butte [Montmartre](/source/Montmartre) (itself named from the *Temple of Mars*), the highest point in [Paris](/source/Paris) and an [18th arrondissement](/source/18th_arrondissement_of_Paris) street nearby the [Sacré-Cœur](/source/Sacr%C3%A9-C%C5%93ur%2C_Paris) is also named after Lefebvre de la Barre.

The 19th century saw the emergence of a specific notion of *Libre-Pensée* ("freethought"), with writer [Victor Hugo](/source/Victor_Hugo) as one of its major early proponents. French Freethinkers (*Libre-Penseurs*) associate freedom of thought, political [anti-clericalism](/source/Anti-clericalism) and socialist leanings. The main organisation referring to this tradition to this day is the [Fédération nationale de la libre pensée](/source/F%C3%A9d%C3%A9ration_nationale_de_la_libre_pens%C3%A9e), created in 1890.

### Germany

*[Jugendweihe](/source/Jugendweihe)* is a German coming of age ceremony. Photograph from early 20th century.

In Germany, during the period 1815–1848 and before the [March Revolution](/source/Revolutions_of_1848_in_the_German_states), the resistance of citizens against the dogma of the church increased. In 1844, under the influence of [Johannes Ronge](/source/Johannes_Ronge) and [Robert Blum](/source/Robert_Blum), belief in the rights of man, tolerance among men, and [humanism](/source/Humanism) grew, and by 1859 they had established the *Bund Freireligiöser Gemeinden Deutschlands* (literally *Union of Free Religious Communities of Germany*), an association of persons who consider themselves to be religious without adhering to any established and institutionalized church or sacerdotal cult. This union still exists today, and is included as a member in the umbrella organization of free humanists. In 1881 in [Frankfurt am Main](/source/Frankfurt_am_Main), [Ludwig Büchner](/source/Ludwig_B%C3%BCchner) established the *Deutscher Freidenkerbund* ([German Freethinkers League](/source/German_Freethinkers_League)) as the first German organization for [atheists](/source/Atheism) and agnostics. In 1892 the *Freidenker-Gesellschaft* and in 1906 the *Deutscher Monistenbund* were formed.[31]

Freethought organizations developed the "[Jugendweihe](/source/Jugendweihe)" (literally *Youth consecration*), a secular "[confirmation](/source/Confirmation)" ceremony, and atheist funeral rites.[31][32] The Union of Freethinkers for Cremation was founded in 1905, and the Central Union of German Proletariat Freethinker in 1908. The two groups merged in 1927, becoming the German Freethinking Association in 1930.[33]

More "bourgeois" organizations declined after [World War I](/source/World_War_I), and "proletarian" freethought groups proliferated, becoming an organization of socialist parties.[31][34] European socialist freethought groups formed the International of Proletarian Freethinkers (IPF) in 1925.[35] Activists agitated for Germans to disaffiliate from their respective Church and for secularization of elementary schools; between 1919–1921 and 1930–1932 more than 2.5 million Germans, for the most part supporters of the Social Democratic and Communist parties, gave up church membership.[36] Conflict developed between radical forces including the Soviet [League of the Militant Godless](/source/League_of_the_Militant_Godless) and Social Democratic forces in Western Europe led by Theodor Hartwig and [Max Sievers](/source/Max_Sievers).[35] In 1930 the Soviet and allied delegations, following a walk-out, took over the IPF and excluded the former leaders.[35] Following Hitler's rise to power in 1933, most freethought organizations were banned, though some right-wing groups that worked with so-called *[Völkische](/source/V%C3%B6lkisch) Bünde* (literally *"ethnic" associations* with nationalist, xenophobic and very often racist ideology) were tolerated by the Nazis until the mid-1930s.[31][34]

### Ireland

In the 19th century, received opinion was scandalized by [George Ensor](/source/George_Ensor) (1769–1843).[37][38] His *Review of the Miracles, Prophecies, & Mysteries of the Old and New Testaments* (1835) argued that, far from being a source of moral teaching, revealed religion and its divines regarded questions of morality as "incidental"--as a "mundane and merely philosophical" topic.[39]

### Netherlands

The Dutch magazine *De Vrijdenker* (The Freethinker) 2015

In the Netherlands, freethought has existed in organized form since the establishment of De Dageraad (now known as [De Vrije Gedachte](/source/De_Vrije_Gedachte)) in 1856. Among its most notable subscribing 19th century individuals were [Johannes van Vloten](/source/Johannes_van_Vloten), [Multatuli](/source/Multatuli), Adriaan Gerhard and [Domela Nieuwenhuis](/source/Domela_Nieuwenhuis).

In 2009, Frans van Dongen established the Atheist-Secular Party, which takes a considerably restrictive view of religion and public religious expressions.

Since the 19th century, freethought in the Netherlands has become more well known as a political phenomenon through at least three currents: liberal freethinking, conservative freethinking, and classical freethinking. In other words, parties which identify as freethinking tend to favor non-doctrinal, rational approaches to their preferred ideologies, and arose as secular alternatives to both clerically aligned parties as well as labor-aligned parties. Common themes among freethinking political parties are "freedom", "liberty", and "[individualism](/source/Individualism)".

### Switzerland

Main article: [Freethinkers Association of Switzerland](/source/Freethinkers_Association_of_Switzerland)

With the introduction of cantonal [church taxes](/source/Church_tax) in the 1870s, [anti-clericals](/source/Anti-clericalism) began to organise themselves. Around 1870, a "freethinkers club" was founded in [Zürich](/source/Z%C3%BCrich). During the debate on the Zürich church law in 1883, professor Friedrich Salomon Vögelin and city council member Kunz proposed to [separate church and state](/source/Separation_of_church_and_state).[40]

### Turkey

Logo of [Atheism Association](/source/Ateizm_Derne%C4%9Fi) of Turkey

In the last years of the [Ottoman Empire](/source/Ottoman_Empire), freethought made its voice heard by the works of distinguished people such as [Ahmet Rıza](/source/Ahmet_R%C4%B1za), [Tevfik Fikret](/source/Tevfik_Fikret), [Abdullah Cevdet](/source/Abdullah_Cevdet), [Kılıçzade Hakkı](https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C4%B1l%C4%B1%C3%A7zade_Hakk%C4%B1), and [Celal Nuri İleri](/source/Celal_Nuri_%C4%B0leri). These intellectuals affected the [early period](/source/One-party_period_of_the_Republic_of_Turkey) of the [Turkish Republic](/source/Turkey). [Mustafa Kemal Atatürk](/source/Mustafa_Kemal_Atat%C3%BCrk) –[field marshal](/source/Mare%C5%9Fal_(Turkey)), revolutionary statesman, author, and [founder](/source/Father_of_the_Nation) of the [secular](/source/Secular_state) Turkish [nation state](/source/Nation_state), serving as its first [President](/source/President_of_Turkey) from 1923 until his death in 1938– was the practitioner of their ideas. He made many [reforms](/source/Atat%C3%BCrk's_Reforms) that modernized the country. Sources point out that Atatürk was a [religious skeptic](/source/Religious_skepticism) and a freethinker. He was a non-doctrinaire [deist](/source/Deism)[41][42] or an [atheist](/source/Atheism),[43][44][45] who was antireligious and anti-Islamic in general.[46][47] According to Atatürk, the Turkish people do not know what Islam really is and do not read the [Quran](/source/Quran). People are influenced by Arabic sentences that they do not understand, and because of their customs they go to mosques. When the Turks read the Quran and think about it, they will leave Islam.[48] Atatürk described Islam as the religion of the [Arabs](/source/Arabs) in his own work titled *Vatandaş için Medeni Bilgiler* by his own [critical](/source/Criticism_of_Islam) and [nationalist](/source/Turkish_nationalism) views.[49]

[Association of Atheism](/source/Ateizm_Derne%C4%9Fi) (*Ateizm Derneği*), the first official atheist organisation in Middle East and Caucasus, was founded in 2014.[50] It serves to support irreligious people and freethinkers in Turkey who are discriminated against based on their views. In 2018 it was reported in some media outlets that the Ateizm Derneği would close down because of the pressure on its members and attacks by pro-government media, but the association itself issued a clarification that this was not the case and that it was still active.[51]

### United Kingdom

The term *freethinker* emerged towards the end of the 17th century in England to describe those who stood in opposition to the institution of the [Church](/source/Church_of_England), and the literal belief in the [Bible](/source/Bible). The beliefs of these individuals were centered on the concept that people could understand the world through consideration of nature. Such positions were formally documented for the first time in 1697 by [William Molyneux](/source/William_Molyneux) in a widely publicized letter to [John Locke](/source/John_Locke), and more extensively in 1713, when [Anthony Collins](/source/Anthony_Collins_(philosopher)) wrote his *Discourse of Free-thinking,* which gained substantial popularity. This essay attacks the clergy of all churches and it is a plea for [deism](/source/Deism).

*[The Freethinker](/source/The_Freethinker_(journal))* magazine was first published in Britain in 1881; it continued in print until 2014, and still exists as a web-based publication.

### United States

Cover of *[The Truth Seeker](/source/The_Truth_Seeker)* from 1921 with picture of [Thomas Paine](/source/Thomas_Paine) and symbols of the Enlightenment

The freethought movement first organized itself in the United States as the "Free Press Association" in 1827 in defense of George Houston, publisher of *The Correspondent*, an early journal of [Biblical criticism](/source/Biblical_criticism) in an era when blasphemy convictions were still possible. Houston had helped found an [Owenite](/source/Owenite) community at Haverstraw, New York in 1826–27. The short-lived *Correspondent* was superseded by the *Free Enquirer*, the official organ of [Robert Owen](/source/Robert_Owen)'s [New Harmony](/source/New_Harmony%2C_Indiana) community in Indiana, edited by [Robert Dale Owen](/source/Robert_Dale_Owen) and by [Fanny Wright](/source/Fanny_Wright) between 1828 and 1832 in New York. During this time Robert Dale Owen sought to introduce the philosophic skepticism of the Freethought movement into the [Workingmen's Party](/source/Working_Men's_Party_(New_York)) in New York City. The *Free Enquirer'*s annual civic celebrations of Paine's birthday after 1825 finally coalesced in 1836 in the first national freethinkers organization, the "United States Moral and Philosophical Society for the General Diffusion of Useful Knowledge". It was founded on August 1, 1836, at a national convention at the Lyceum in Saratoga Springs with Isaac S. Smith of [Buffalo](/source/Buffalo%2C_New_York), New York, as president. Smith was also the 1836 [Equal Rights Party](/source/Locofocos)'s candidate for Governor of New York and had also been the Workingmen's Party candidate for Lt. Governor of New York in 1830. The Moral and Philosophical Society published *The Beacon*, edited by Gilbert Vale.[52]

Collected works of [Robert G. Ingersoll](/source/Robert_G._Ingersoll)[53]

Driven by the revolutions of 1848 in the German states, the 19th century saw an [immigration](/source/Immigration) of [German](/source/German_people) freethinkers and anti-clericalists to the United States (see [Forty-Eighters](/source/Forty-Eighters)). In the United States, they hoped to be able to live by their principles, without interference from government and church authorities.[54]

[Watson Heston](/source/Watson_Heston), *Two Ways to Go*, 1896

Many Freethinkers settled in German immigrant strongholds, including [St. Louis](/source/St._Louis), [Indianapolis](/source/Indianapolis), [Wisconsin](/source/Wisconsin), and [Texas](/source/Texas), where they founded the town of [Comfort](/source/Comfort%2C_Texas), Texas, as well as others.[54]

These groups of German Freethinkers referred to their organizations as *Freie Gemeinden*, or "free congregations".[54] The first Freie Gemeinde was established in St. Louis in 1850.[55] Others followed in Pennsylvania, California, Washington, D.C., New York, Illinois, Wisconsin, Texas, and other states.[54][55]

Freethinkers tended to be liberal, espousing ideals such as racial, social, and sexual equality, and the abolition of slavery.[54]

The "[Golden Age of Freethought](/source/Golden_Age_of_Freethought)" in the US came in the late 1800s. The dominant organization was the [National Liberal League](/source/National_Liberal_League_(United_States)) which formed in 1876 in Philadelphia. This group re-formed itself in 1885 as the American Secular Union under the leadership of the eminent agnostic orator [Robert G. Ingersoll](/source/Robert_G._Ingersoll). Following Ingersoll's death in 1899 the organization declined, in part due to lack of effective [leadership](/source/Leadership).[56]

Freethought in the United States declined in the early twentieth century. By the early twentieth century, most freethought congregations had disbanded or joined other mainstream churches. The longest continuously operating freethought congregation in America is the Free Congregation of Sauk County, Wisconsin, which was founded in 1852 and is still active as of 2020[\[update\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Freethought&action=edit). It affiliated with the [American Unitarian Association](/source/American_Unitarian_Association) (now the [Unitarian Universalist Association](/source/Unitarian_Universalist_Association)) in 1955.[57] [D. M. Bennett](/source/D._M._Bennett) was the founder and publisher of *[The Truth Seeker](/source/Truth_Seeker)* in 1873, a radical freethought and reform American periodical.

German freethinker settlements were located in:

- [Burlington](/source/Burlington%2C_Wisconsin), [Racine County](/source/Racine_County%2C_Wisconsin), [Wisconsin](/source/Wisconsin)[54]

- [Belleville](/source/Belleville%2C_Illinois), [St. Clair County](/source/St._Clair_County%2C_Illinois), [Illinois](/source/Illinois)

- [Castell](/source/Castell%2C_Texas), [Llano County](/source/Llano_County%2C_Texas), [Texas](/source/Texas)

- [Comfort](/source/Comfort%2C_Texas), [Kendall County](/source/Kendall_County%2C_Texas), Texas

- [Davenport](/source/Davenport%2C_Iowa), [Scott County](/source/Scott_County%2C_Iowa), [Iowa](/source/Iowa)[58]

- [Fond du Lac](/source/Fond_du_Lac%2C_Wisconsin), [Fond du Lac County](/source/Fond_du_Lac_County%2C_Wisconsin), Wisconsin[54]

- [Frelsburg](/source/Frelsburg%2C_Texas), [Colorado County](/source/Colorado_County%2C_Texas), Texas

- [Hermann](/source/Hermann%2C_Missouri), [Gasconade County](/source/Gasconade_County%2C_Missouri), [Missouri](/source/Missouri)

- [Jefferson](/source/Jefferson%2C_Jefferson_County%2C_Wisconsin), [Jefferson County](/source/Jefferson_County%2C_Wisconsin), Wisconsin[54]

- [Indianapolis](/source/Indianapolis), [Indiana](/source/Indiana)[59]

- [Latium](/source/Latium%2C_Texas), [Washington County](/source/Washington_County%2C_Texas), Texas

- [Manitowoc](/source/Manitowoc%2C_Wisconsin), [Manitowoc County](/source/Manitowoc_County%2C_Wisconsin), Wisconsin[54]

- [Meyersville](/source/Meyersville%2C_Texas), [DeWitt County](/source/DeWitt_County%2C_Texas), Texas

- [Milwaukee](/source/Milwaukee), Wisconsin[54]

- Millheim, [Austin County](/source/Austin_County%2C_Texas), Texas

- [Oshkosh](/source/Oshkosh%2C_Wisconsin), [Winnebago County, Wisconsin](/source/Winnebago_County%2C_Wisconsin)[54]

- Ratcliffe, [DeWitt County](/source/DeWitt_County%2C_Texas), Texas

- [Sauk City](/source/Sauk_City%2C_Wisconsin), [Sauk County](/source/Sauk_County%2C_Wisconsin), Wisconsin[54][57]

- [Shelby](/source/Shelby%2C_Texas), Austin County, Texas

- [Sisterdale](/source/Sisterdale%2C_Texas), [Kendall County](/source/Kendall_County%2C_Texas), Texas

- [St. Louis](/source/St._Louis%2C_Missouri), Missouri

- [Tusculum](/source/Tusculum%2C_Texas), Kendall County, Texas

- [Two Rivers](/source/Two_Rivers_(town)%2C_Wisconsin), Manitowoc County, Wisconsin[54]

- [Watertown](/source/Watertown%2C_Wisconsin), [Dodge County](/source/Dodge_County%2C_Wisconsin), Wisconsin[54]

### Anarchism

Part of a series on Anarchism Definition Glossary Outline Schools of thought Black Collectivist Communist Egoist Feminist Green Individualist Insurrectionary Market Mutualist Pacifist Philosophical Primitivist Queer Religious Christian Jewish Social Syndicalist Synthesis Without adjectives Theory and practice Anarchy Anarchist Black Cross Anarchist criminology Anarchist Internationalism Anationalism Anti-authoritarianism Anti-capitalism Anti-imperialism Anti-militarism Affinity group Autonomous social center Black bloc Classless society Class struggle Community organizing Consensus decision-making Conscientious objector Critique of work Decentralization Deep ecology Direct action Free association Free love Freethought Galleanism Horizontalidad Individualism Intentional community Mutual aid Permanent autonomous zone Popular education Prefigurative politics Propaganda of the deed Refusal of work Revolution Rewilding Sabotage Security culture Self-ownership Social ecology Sociocracy Somatherapy Spontaneous order Squatting Temporary autonomous zone Union of egoists Voluntary association Workerism Workers' council People Alston Armand Ba Bakunin Berkman Bonanno Bookchin Bourdin Chomsky Cleyre Day Déjacque Durruti Ellul Ervin Fanelli Faure Ferrer Feyerabend Giovanni Godwin Goldman González Prada Graeber Guillaume He-Yin Kanno Kōtoku Kropotkin Landauer Liu Magón Makhno Maksimov Malatesta Mett Michel Most Parsons Pi i Margall Pouget Proudhon Raichō Reclus Rocker Santillán Schürmann Spooner Stirner Thoreau Tolstoy Tucker Volin Ward Warren Yarchuk Zerzan Issues Animal rights Arts Capitalism Education Law Love and sex Nationalism Religion Violence History French Revolution Revolutions of 1848 Spanish Regional Federation of the IWA Paris Commune Hague Congress Cantonal rebellion Haymarket affair Trial of the Thirty International Conference of Rome Ferrer movement Strandzha Commune Congress of Amsterdam Tragic Week High Treason Incident Manifesto of the Sixteen German Revolution of 1918–1919 Bavarian Soviet Republic 1919 United States bombings Biennio Rosso Kronstadt rebellion Makhnovshchina Amakasu Incident Alt Llobregat insurrection Anarchist insurrection of January 1933 Anarchist insurrection of December 1933 Spanish Revolution of 1936 Barcelona May Days Contemporary anarchism Red inverted triangle Labadie Collection Provo May 1968 Kate Sharpley Library Carnival Against Capital 1999 Seattle WTO protests Really Really Free Market Occupy movement Culture A las Barricadas Anarchist bookfair Anarcho-punk Anarchy in the U.K. Architecture Circle-A DIY ethic Escuela Moderna Films Freeganism Infoshop Independent Media Center The Internationale May Day Popular education Radical cheerleading Radical environmentalism Self-managed social center Symbolism Economics Communization Cooperative Cost the limit of price Decentralized planned economy Free association General strike Gift economy Give-away shop Labor voucher Local exchange trading system Market socialism Mutual bank Mutual credit Social ownership Wage slavery Workers' self-management By region Africa Algeria Egypt Morocco Nigeria South Africa Tunisia Asia Armenia Azerbaijan Bangladesh China Hong Kong Egypt Georgia India Indonesia Iran Israel Japan Korea Malaysia Mongolia Philippines Russia Singapore Soviet Union Syria Taiwan Timor-Leste Turkey Vietnam Europe Albania Andorra Austria Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Latvia Monaco Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia Serbia Spain Soviet Union Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom North America Canada Costa Rica Cuba Dominican Republic El Salvador Guatemala Mexico Nicaragua Panama United States Individualist anarchism Puerto Rico Oceania Australia New Zealand South America Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Ecuador French Guiana Paraguay Peru Uruguay Venezuela Lists Anarcho-punk bands Books Fictional characters Films Jewish anarchists Musicians Periodicals Related topics Anarcho-capitalism Anti-corporatism Anti-consumerism Anti-fascism Anti-globalization Anti-statism Anti-war movement Autarchism Autonomist marxism Communism Council communism IWA Labour movement Left communism Left-libertarianism Libertarian socialism Marxism National-anarchism Relationship between Friedrich Nietzsche and Max Stirner Situationist International Socialism Spontaneous order Anarchism portal Politics portal v t e

#### United States tradition

Freethought influenced the development of [anarchism in the United States](/source/Anarchism_in_the_United_States).[60] In the U.S.,[*[when?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Dates_and_numbers#Chronological_items)*]

"freethought was a basically [anti-Christian](/source/Anti-Christianity), [anti-clerical](/source/Anti-clerical) movement, whose purpose was to make the individual politically and spiritually free to decide for himself on religious matters. A number of contributors to *[Liberty](/source/Liberty_(1881%E2%80%931908))* were prominent figures in both freethought and anarchism. The [American individualist anarchist](/source/Individualist_anarchism_in_the_United_States) George MacDonald [(1857–1944)] was a co-editor of *Freethought* and, for a time, *The Truth Seeker.* E. C. Walker was co-editor of the freethought/free love journal *[Lucifer, the Light-Bearer](/source/Lucifer%2C_the_Light-Bearer)*."[61]

"Many of the anarchists were ardent freethinkers; reprints from freethought papers such as *[Lucifer, the Light-Bearer](/source/Lucifer%2C_the_Light-Bearer)*, *Freethought* and *The Truth Seeker* appeared in *Liberty*...The church was viewed as a common ally of the state and as a repressive force in and of itself."[61]

#### European tradition

The *Boletín de la Escuela Moderna*, 1905, edited by Francisco Ferrer

In Europe, a similar development occurred in French and Spanish individualist anarchist circles:

"Anticlericalism, just as in the rest of the [libertarian](/source/Libertarian) movement, in another of the frequent elements which will gain relevance related to the measure in which the (French) Republic begins to have conflicts with the church...Anti-clerical discourse, frequently called for by the French individualist [André Lorulot](/source/Andr%C3%A9_Lorulot) [(1885–1963)], will have its impacts in *Estudios* (a Spanish [individualist anarchist](/source/Individualist_anarchism_in_Europe) publication). There will be an attack on institutionalized religion for the responsibility that it had in the past on negative developments, for its irrationality which makes it a counterpoint of philosophical and scientific progress. There will be a criticism of [proselytism](/source/Proselytism) and ideological manipulation which happens on both believers and agnostics".[62]

These tendencies would continue in French individualist anarchism in the work and activism of [Charles-Auguste Bontemps](/source/Charles-Auguste_Bontemps) (1893–1981) and others. In the Spanish individualist anarchist magazines *Ética* and *[Iniciales](/source/Iniciales)*

"there is a strong interest in publishing scientific news, usually linked to a certain atheist and [anti-theist](/source/Anti-theist) obsession, philosophy which will also work for pointing out the incompatibility between science and religion, faith, and reason. In this way, there will be a lot of talk on [Charles Darwin](/source/Charles_Darwin)'s theories or on the negation of the existence of the [soul](/source/Soul)".[63]

In 1901, the Catalan anarchist and freethinker [Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia](/source/Francesc_Ferrer_i_Gu%C3%A0rdia) established "modern" or [progressive schools](/source/Progressive_education) in [Barcelona](/source/Barcelona) in defiance of an educational system controlled by the [Catholic Church](/source/Catholic_Church).[64] The schools had the stated goal to "[educate the working class](/source/Popular_education) in a rational, secular and non-coercive setting". Fiercely anti-clerical, Ferrer believed in "freedom in education", education free from the authority of church and state.[65][*[failed verification](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability)*] Ferrer's ideas, generally, formed the inspiration for a series of [Modern Schools](/source/Ferrer_Center_and_Colony) in the United States,[64] [Cuba](/source/Cuba), [South America](/source/South_America), and [London](/source/London). The first of these started in [New York City](/source/New_York_City) in 1911. Ferrer also inspired the Italian newspaper [*Università popolare*](/source/Universit%C3%A0_popolare_(Italian_newspaper)), founded in 1901.[64]

## In Freemasonry

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Part of a series on Freemasonry Overview Grand Lodge Masonic lodge Consistory Masonic lodge officers Grand Master Prince Hall Freemasonry Regular Masonic jurisdiction Anglo-American Freemasonry Continental Freemasonry Military Lodge History Liberté chérie Masonic manuscripts Masonic bodies Masonic Masonic bodies York Rite Order of Mark Master Masons Holy Royal Arch Royal Arch Masonry Cryptic Masonry Knights Templar Red Cross of Constantine Scottish Rite Knight Kadosh French Rite Societas Rosicruciana Order of Royal and Select Masters Grand College of Rites Swedish Rite Order of Saint Thomas of Acon Royal Order of Scotland Order of Knight Masons Research Lodge Corks Side degrees The Shrine Royal Order of Jesters Tall Cedars of Lebanon The Grotto Masonic groups for women Women and Freemasonry Order of the Amaranth Order of the Eastern Star Prince Hall Order of the Eastern Star Co-Freemasonry Masonic youth organizations DeMolay A.J.E.F. Job's Daughters International Order of the Rainbow for Girls Views on Masonry Anti-Masonry Anti-Masonic Party Grand Anti-Masonic Exhibition Masonic conspiracy theories Christian attitudes towards Freemasonry Papal ban of Freemasonry Taxil hoax People and places Masonic Temple James Anderson Prince Hall William Preston Thomas Smith Webb Albert Mackey Albert Pike John the Evangelist John the Baptist William Schaw Elizabeth Aldworth List of Freemasons Lodge Mother Kilwinning Freemasons' Hall, London Mark Masons' Hall, London House of the Temple Solomon's Temple Detroit Masonic Temple List of Masonic buildings Related Masonic ritual and symbolism Great Architect of the Universe Square and Compasses Pigpen cipher Eye of Providence Hiram Abiff Chamber of Reflection List of Masonic Abbreviations Sprig of Acacia Masonic Landmarks Pike's Morals and Dogma Propaganda Due Dermott's Ahiman Rezon Volume of Sacred Law By country Barbados Belgium Canada China Croatia Cuba Denmark France Finland Germany Iceland India Indonesia Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Lebanon Luxembourg Malaysia Malta Mexico North Macedonia Philippines Portugal Romania Russia Scotland South Africa Spain Sri Lanka Sweden Thailand Turkey Ukraine Venezuela United Kingdom United States v t e

[Freemasonry](/source/Freemasonry) served an important purpose in the spreading of the freethinking movement. Freemason lodges in 18th century Europe served as sites for enlightenment thinking and discussion of new ideas, helping spread freethought philosophies. The informal, secretive nature of the lodges allowed intellectuals and elites to gather and debate radical topics away from the scrutiny of church and state.[66]

Freemasonry attracted many freethinkers and became a hub of the movement, during the Enlightenment era due to its emphasis on inclusive membership, [logic](/source/Logic), [rationalism](/source/Rationalism), and [religious tolerance](/source/Religious_tolerance).[67] Freemasonry's origins from stonemason guilds meant its symbolism and rituals drew on concepts from the [Trivium](/source/Trivium) and [Quadrivium](/source/Quadrivium), they include the Mastery of [Grammar](/source/Grammar), [Rhetoric](/source/Rhetoric), logic then mastery of [arithmetic](/source/Arithmetic), [geometry](/source/Geometry), [music](/source/Music), and [astronomy](/source/Astronomy) as well as other arts such as the [mechanical arts](/source/Artes_mechanicae), reflecting Enlightenment ideals in the goal of making its members Masters of their thoughts and opinions thus making them Freethinkers.[68] This distinguished Freemasonry from other fraternal orders focused on chivalry or Christian morality.[67]

### Rationalism and science

[Voltaire](/source/Voltaire)

Due to Freemasonry utilizing extensive symbols and allegories related to mathematics, geometry, and architecture, conveying the importance of reason and science,[68] and the central Masonic symbol of the compass and square represented logic and rigor[69] as well references to the "Great Architect of the Universe", these concepts were interpreted as a deist scientific creator by Enlightenment freethinkers.

Influential early Speculative Masonic writings by James Anderson and [Jean-Theophile Desaguliers](/source/John_Theophilus_Desaguliers) frequently cited [Isaac Newton](/source/Isaac_Newton) and promoted Newtonian scientific ideas.[69] Desaguliers was a close friend and student of Newton, further spreading Newton's theories to lodges.[69] Geometry textbooks and lectures were common in early lodges, aligning with Enlightenment interest in mathematics and science.[68]

Freemasonry's multi-tiered system of [initiation rituals](/source/Initiation) allegorically used the tools, stages, and concepts of architecture and mechanics to represent enlightenment and self-improvement through education and reason.[68] This resonated with freethinkers' belief in perfecting society through spreading knowledge.

### Religious tolerance

In 1889, a statue of [Giordano Bruno](/source/Giordano_Bruno) was erected at the site of his execution, by freethinkers from several countries.

Unlike most contemporary fraternal orders, Freemasonry did not require its members to follow a specific religious creed.[67] This openness allowed men of diverse faiths, including deists, to join local lodges throughout [Europe](/source/Europe) and [America](/source/United_States) in the Enlightenment era allowing Freethought to flourish. While utilizing religious imagery and themes, Freemasonry intentionally avoided dogmatic disputes and focused its moral lessons on shared values of virtue, charity, and righteousness thereby allowing its members to think for themselves.[67]

This religious tolerance attracted Enlightenment thinkers, like [Voltaire](/source/Voltaire), who viewed organized religion as upholding oppressive traditional monarchs and hindering freethought.[70] Benjamin Franklin praised Masonic principles of "liberality, tolerance and unity in essentials, leaving each Brother to his own opinions on non-essentials" in his writings.[71]

### Political liberalism

Many Enlightenment freethinkers perceived established dogmas as oppressing freethought.[70] Consequently, the secrecy and hierarchical Initiatory structure of Freemasonry alarmed some authoritarian states, concerned it could encourage free and revolutionary ideas.[69]

However, most Masonic lodges mainly aimed to promote morality, sociability, freedom and philanthropic causes rather than radical politics.[67] Values of freethinking, liberty, equality, and opposition to tyranny were also celebrated in Masonic rituals and writings, many rituals have for motto "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity".[68] This intellectual spirit likely contributed to many Freemasons supporting independence movements and participating as Founding Fathers of the [United States](/source/United_States).[72]

In the 19th and 20th centuries, some authoritarian states were against Freemasonry, suspecting it of encouraging freethinking philosophies and suppressed Masonic lodges and members.

### Pursuit of mastery

A core goal of Freemasonry's initiatory system is to guide people's intellectual and moral development towards mastery and self enlightenment.[68] Masonic rituals and degrees symbolically depict the passage from an Apprentice to Fellowcraft to Master Mason as a metaphor for independent learning and self-improvement to the goal of becoming a Master of himself, thus a full freethinker.[69]

Attaining mastery is presented as freeing someone's mind from blind reliance on [authorities](/source/Authority) and [dogmas](/source/Dogma) so they can autonomously reason and have educated opinions.[72] The perfectibility of human nature through education and liberty is a key theme. This aligns with freethinkers' views on thinking for oneself using logic and empiricism.

However, this does not mean that a Freemason cannot follow a dogma rather that as a freethinker, the Mason can, if they want, decide to follow a dogma on their own free will and accord, not because they are told to do so but by their own enlightened choice.

## See also

- [Brights movement](/source/Brights_movement)

- [Critical rationalism](/source/Critical_rationalism)

- [Freethought Day](/source/Freethought_Day)

- [Religious skepticism](/source/Religious_skepticism)

## Notes and references

1. **[^](#cite_ref-merriam-webster2_1-0)** ["Free thought – Definition of free thought by Merriam-Webster"](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/free%20thought). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200422145549/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/free%20thought) from the original on 22 April 2020. Retrieved 5 August 2020.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-merriam-webster.com_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-merriam-webster.com_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-merriam-webster.com_2-2) ["Freethinker – Definition of freethinker by Merriam-Webster"](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/freethinker). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20090424021647/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/freethinker) from the original on 24 April 2009. Retrieved 12 June 2015.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["FREETHINKER definition in American English | Collins English Dictionary"](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/freethinker). 13 February 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Glossary | International Humanist and Ethical Union"](https://web.archive.org/web/20130117115830/http://www.iheu.org/glossary/12#letterf). Archived from [the original](http://www.iheu.org/glossary/12#letterf) on 2013-01-17. Retrieved 2012-02-03.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["who are the Freethinkers?"](https://freethinkers.com/who-are-the-freethinkers/). *Freethinkers.com*. 2018-02-13. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200801014048/https://freethinkers.com/who-are-the-freethinkers/) from the original on 2020-08-01. Retrieved 14 February 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["The Saga of Freethought and Its Pioneers: Religious Critique and Social Reform"](https://americanhumanist.org/what-is-humanism/saga-freethought-pioneers-religious-critique-social-reform/). *American Humanist Association*. 22 December 2023. Retrieved 22 December 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["What Is Freethought?"](http://www.patheos.com/blogs/daylightatheism/2010/02/what-is-freethought/). *Daylight Atheism*. 2010-02-26. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20150402094929/http://www.patheos.com/blogs/daylightatheism/2010/02/what-is-freethought/) from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 12 June 2015.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Adam Lee (October 2012). ["9 Great Freethinkers and Religious Dissenters in History"](http://bigthink.com/daylight-atheism/9-great-freethinkers-and-religious-dissenters-in-history). *Big Think*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20150908201016/http://bigthink.com/daylight-atheism/9-great-freethinkers-and-religious-dissenters-in-history) from the original on 8 September 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2015.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Bogdan, H.; Snoek, J., eds. (2014). "Freemasonry and the Eighteenth-Century European Enlightenment". *Handbook of Freemasonry*. Brill. pp. 321–335.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Clifford, William K. "5. The Ethics of Belief". In Levin, Noah (ed.). [*Philosophy of Western Religions*](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gxLdO3NTiQLhUc5K1XWIa8nIM5YnXgFG/view?usp=sharing). N.G.E. Far Press. pp. 18–21. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20220131133534/https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gxLdO3NTiQLhUc5K1XWIa8nIM5YnXgFG/view?usp=sharing) from the original on 2022-01-31. Retrieved 2022-01-31.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Becker, Lawrence and Charlotte (2013). *Encyclopedia of Ethics (article on "agnosticism")*. Routledge. p. 44. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781135350963](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781135350963).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Hastings, James (2003-01-01). [*Encyclopedia of Religion*](https://books.google.com/books?id=ZAwwaxdKMNAC). Kessinger. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780766136830](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780766136830).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** ["What is a Freethinker? - Freedom From Religion Foundation"](https://web.archive.org/web/20150715021218/http://ffrf.org/faq/feeds/item/18391-what-is-a-freethinker). Archived from [the original](http://ffrf.org/faq/feeds/item/18391-what-is-a-freethinker) on 15 July 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2015.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** Russell, Bertrand (1944). [*The Value of Free Thought: How to Become a Truth-seeker and Break the Chains of Mental Slavery*](https://books.google.com/books?id=zsC2cQAACAAJ). Haldeman-Julius Publications. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20230429160059/https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Value_of_Free_Thought.html?id=zsC2cQAACAAJ&redir_esc=y) from the original on 2023-04-29. Retrieved 2023-04-30.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** ["Saga Of Freethought And Its Pioneers"](https://web.archive.org/web/20150715023327/http://americanhumanist.org/humanism/Saga_of_Freethought_and_Its_Pioneers). *American Humanist Association*. Archived from [the original](http://americanhumanist.org/humanism/Saga_of_Freethought_and_Its_Pioneers) on 15 July 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2015.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** James E. Force, Introduction (1990) to An Account of the Growth of Deism in England (1696) by William Stephens

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** Aveling, Francis, ed. (1908). ["Deism"](http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04679b.htm). *The Catholic Encyclopedia*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20121012112353/http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04679b.htm) from the original on 2012-10-12. Retrieved 2012-10-10. The deists were what nowadays would be called freethinkers, a name, indeed, by which they were not infrequently known; and they can only be classed together wholly in the main attitude that they adopted, viz. in agreeing to cast off the trammels of authoritative religious teaching in favour of a free and purely rationalistic speculation.... Deism, in its every manifestation was opposed to the current and traditional teaching of revealed religion.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** ["A COMMON PLACE by Ruth Kelly and Liam Byrne"](https://www.fabians.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/ACommonPlace.pdf) (PDF). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20190102002241/https://www.fabians.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/ACommonPlace.pdf) (PDF) from the original on 2019-01-02. Retrieved 2019-01-01.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-PansyOfFreethought_19-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-PansyOfFreethought_19-1) Annie Laurie Gaylor. ["Pansy of Freethought - Rediscovering A Forgotten Symbol Of Freethought"](http://www.leicestersecularsociety.org.uk/PHP_redirected/pansy.php). *www.leicestersecularsociety.org.uk*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200801014522/http://www.leicestersecularsociety.org.uk/PHP_redirected/pansy.php) from the original on 2020-08-01. Retrieved 2023-01-02.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** Theobald, Ulrich. ["Song Dynasty 宋, 960-1279"](http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Song/song.html). *www.chinaknowledge.de*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20190519204802/http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Song/song.html) from the original on 2019-05-19. Retrieved 2023-01-02.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Gottlieb_2021_p._4_21-0)** Gottlieb, M. (2021). [*The Jewish Reformation: Bible Translation and Middle-Class German Judaism As Spiritual Enterprise*](https://books.google.com/books?id=z34fEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA4). Oxford University Press, Incorporated. p. 4. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-933638-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-933638-8). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20230119164428/https://books.google.com/books?id=z34fEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA4) from the original on 2023-01-19. Retrieved 2023-01-19.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Nahme_2019_p._62_22-0)** Nahme, P.E. (2019). [*Hermann Cohen and the Crisis of Liberalism: The Enchantment of the Public Sphere*](https://books.google.com/books?id=deJVEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT62). New Jewish Philosophy and Thought. Indiana University Press. p. 62. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-253-03977-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-253-03977-4). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20230119164429/https://books.google.com/books?id=deJVEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT62) from the original on 2023-01-19. Retrieved 2023-01-19.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-gatti18_23-0)** Gatti, Hilary (2002). [*Giordano Bruno and Renaissance Science: Broken Lives and Organizational Power*](https://books.google.com/books?id=9cYumhwTQP8C). Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. pp. 18–19. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0801487859](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0801487859). Retrieved 21 March 2014. For Bruno was claiming for the philosopher a principle of free thought and inquiry which implied an entirely new concept of authority: that of the individual intellect in its serious and continuing pursuit of an autonomous inquiry… It is impossible to understand the issue involved and to evaluate justly the stand made by Bruno with his life without appreciating the question of free thought and liberty of expression. His insistence on placing this issue at the center of both his work and of his defense is why Bruno remains so much a figure of the modern world. If there is, as many have argued, an intrinsic link between science and liberty of inquiry, then Bruno was among those who guaranteed the future of the newly emerging sciences, as well as claiming in wider terms a general principle of free thought and expression.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-montano1_24-0)** Montano, Aniello (24 November 2007). Antonio Gargano (ed.). *Le deposizioni davanti al tribunale dell'Inquisizione*. Napoli: La Città del Sole. p. 71.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-birx_25-0)** Birx, James (11 November 1997). ["Giordano Bruno"](https://web.archive.org/web/20190516084317/http://www.theharbinger.org/xvi/971111/birx.html). *Mobile Alabama Harbinger*. Archived from [the original](http://www.theharbinger.org/xvi/971111/birx.html) on 16 May 2019. Retrieved 28 April 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-horne_26-0)** Buttrose, Larry. [Sport, grog and godliness](https://archive.today/20121216012210/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26024094-7583,00.html), *[The Australian](/source/The_Australian)*. Retrieved on 11 September 2009.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-27)** [Ramsay Cook](/source/Ramsay_Cook), *The Regenerators: Social Criticism in Late Victorian English Canada* (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1985), pp. 46–64.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-28)** ["ARTFL Encyclopédie Search Results"](https://web.archive.org/web/20190322135708/http://artflsrv02.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.8:1431:4.encyclopedie0513.4781541). 1751–1772. p. 472. Archived from [the original](http://artflsrv02.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.8:1431:4.encyclopedie0513.4781541) on 22 March 2019. Retrieved 12 June 2015.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-MEMIM_29-0)** ["Gjendesheim"](https://web.archive.org/web/20160808194917/http://memim.com/gjendesheim.html). *MEMIM*. 2016. Archived from [the original](http://memim.com/gjendesheim.html) on 8 August 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Gregory2008_30-0)** Gregory, Mary Efrosini (2008). *Evolutionism in Eighteenth-century French Thought*. Peter Lang. p. 192. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781433103735](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781433103735).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-may_31-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-may_31-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-may_31-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-may_31-3) Bock, Heike (2006). "Secularization of the modern conduct of life? Reflections on the religiousness of early modern Europe". In Hanne May (ed.). *Religiosität in der säkularisierten Welt*. VS Verlag fnr Sozialw. p. 157. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-3-8100-4039-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-3-8100-4039-8).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-isbn0-472-06938-1_32-0)** Reese, Dagmar (2006). [*Growing up female in Nazi Germany*](https://books.google.com/books?id=5qA4My-C2nkC&pg=PA160). Ann Arbor, Mich: University of Michigan Press. p. 160. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-472-06938-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-472-06938-5).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Reinhalter_33-0)** Reinhalter, Helmut (1999). "Freethinkers". In Bromiley, Geoffrey William; Fahlbusch, Erwin (eds.). *The encyclopedia of Christianity*. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-90-04-11695-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-90-04-11695-5).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-kaiser_34-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-kaiser_34-1) Kaiser, Jochen-Christoph (2003). Christel Gärtner (ed.). [*Atheismus und religiöse Indifferenz*](https://books.google.com/books?id=YXOr4xQFSJsC&pg=PA124). Vol. Organisierter Atheismus. VS Verlag. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-3-8100-3639-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-3-8100-3639-1).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-peris_35-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-peris_35-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-peris_35-2) Peris, Daniel (1998). [*Storming the heavens: the Soviet League of the Militant Godless*](https://archive.org/details/stormingheavenss00peri_0). Ithaca, N.Y: Cornell University Press. pp. [110](https://archive.org/details/stormingheavenss00peri_0/page/110)–11. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-8014-3485-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8014-3485-3).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-lamberti_36-0)** Lamberti, Marjorie (2004). [*Politics Of Education: Teachers and School Reform in Weimar Germany (Monographs in German History)*](https://books.google.com/books?id=jbmwM4wsMKEC&pg=PA185). Providence: Berghahn Books. p. 185. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-57181-299-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-57181-299-5).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-:6_37-0)** Strachan, John; Jones, Steven E. (2020-04-01). [*British Satire, 1785-1840, Volume 1*](https://books.google.com/books?id=aMbaDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT144). Routledge. p. 144. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-000-71299-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-000-71299-5). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20230415080208/https://books.google.com/books?id=aMbaDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT144) from the original on 2023-04-15. Retrieved 2023-04-30.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-:3_38-0)** Duddy, Thomas (2012). [*A History of Irish Thought*](https://books.google.com/books?id=2TJBtm__n3sC). Routledge. pp. 118–119. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-134-62352-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-134-62352-5). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20230427222539/https://books.google.com/books?id=2TJBtm__n3sC) from the original on 2023-04-27. Retrieved 2023-04-30.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-39)** Ensor, George (1835). [*A Review of the Miracles, prophecies, and mysteries of the Old and New Testaments, and of the morality and consolation of the Christian Religion*](https://books.google.com/books?id=E-5iAAAAcAAJ). London: John Brooks. pp. 88, 91, 103. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20230411123327/https://books.google.com/books?id=E-5iAAAAcAAJ) from the original on 2023-04-11. Retrieved 2023-04-30.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-40)** ["Geschichte der Freidenker"](http://www.frei-denken.ch/de/2008/04/geschichte-der-freidenker/). *FAS website* (in German). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20171102120645/http://www.frei-denken.ch/de/2008/04/geschichte-der-freidenker/) from the original on 2 November 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-41)** Reşat Kasaba, "Atatürk", *The Cambridge history of Turkey: Volume 4: Turkey in the Modern World*, Cambridge University Press, 2008; [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-521-62096-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-521-62096-3) [p. 163](https://books.google.com/books?id=iOoGH4GckQgC&pg=PA163); accessed 27 March 2015.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-42)** [*Political Islam in Turkey* by Gareth Jenkins, Palgrave Macmillan, 2008, p. 84](https://books.google.com/books?id=kdXGAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA84); [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0230612458](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0230612458)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-43)** [*Atheism*](https://books.google.com/books?id=DUal7eYmEnEC&pg=PA106), Brief Insights Series by Julian Baggini, Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., 2009; [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1402768826](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1402768826), p. 106.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-44)** [Islamism: A Documentary and Reference Guide](https://books.google.com/books?id=2gAjMuLivlQC&pg=PA19), John Calvert John, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2008; [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0313338566](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0313338566), p. 19.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-45)** ...Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the secular Turkish Republic. He said: *"I have no religion, and at times I wish all religions at the bottom of the sea..."* [The Antipodean Philosopher: Interviews on Philosophy in Australia and New Zealand](https://books.google.com/books?id=oXxXxBXewzgC&pg=PA146), Graham Oppy, Lexington Books, 2011, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0739167936](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0739167936), p. 146.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-46)** Phil Zuckerman, John R. Shook, The Oxford Handbook of Secularism, Oxford University Press, 2017, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0199988455](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0199988455), p. 167.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-47)** Tariq Ramadan, Islam and the Arab Awakening, Oxford University Press, 2012, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0199933731](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0199933731), p. 76.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-48)** ["Atatürk İslam için ne düşünüyordu? - Türkiye Haberleri - Radikal"](https://web.archive.org/web/20170722130231/http://www.radikal.com.tr/turkiye/ataturk-islam-icin-ne-dusunuyordu-791000/). 2017-07-22. Archived from [the original](http://www.radikal.com.tr/turkiye/ataturk-islam-icin-ne-dusunuyordu-791000/) on 2017-07-22. Retrieved 2023-01-02.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-49)** Even before accepting the religion of the Arabs, the Turks were a great nation. After accepting the religion of the Arabs, this religion, didn't effect to combine the Arabs, the Persians and Egyptians with the Turks to constitute a nation. (This religion) rather, loosened the national nexus of Turkish nation, got national excitement numb. This was very natural. Because the purpose of the religion founded by Muhammad, over all nations, was to drag to an including Arab national politics. *(Afet İnan, Medenî Bilgiler ve M. Kemal Atatürk'ün El Yazıları, Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1998, p. 364.)*

1. **[^](#cite_ref-turkishatheist.net1_50-0)** ["The first Atheist Association in Turkey is founded"](http://turkishatheist.net/?p=40). *turkishatheist.net*. 3 May 2014. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20180303175925/http://turkishatheist.net/?p=40) from the original on 3 March 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-51)** ["Turkey's Atheism Association threatened by hostility and lack of interest | Ahval"](https://web.archive.org/web/20200801021302/https://ahvalnews.com/turkey-atheism/turkeys-atheism-association-threatened-hostility-and-lack-interest). *Ahval*. Archived from [the original](https://ahvalnews.com/turkey-atheism/turkeys-atheism-association-threatened-hostility-and-lack-interest) on 2020-08-01. Retrieved 2018-10-21.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-52)** Hugins, Walter (1960). *Jacksonian Democracy and the Working Class: A Study of the New York Workingmen's Movement 1829–1837*. Stanford: Stanford University Press. pp. 36–48.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-53)** Brandt, Eric T., and Timothy Larsen (2011). "The Old Atheism Revisited: Robert G. Ingersoll and the Bible". *Journal of the Historical Society*. **11** (2): 211–38. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1111/j.1540-5923.2011.00330.x](https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1540-5923.2011.00330.x).{{[cite journal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_journal)}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_multiple_names:_authors_list))

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Freethinkers_in_Wisconsin_54-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Freethinkers_in_Wisconsin_54-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Freethinkers_in_Wisconsin_54-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Freethinkers_in_Wisconsin_54-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-Freethinkers_in_Wisconsin_54-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-Freethinkers_in_Wisconsin_54-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-Freethinkers_in_Wisconsin_54-6) [***h***](#cite_ref-Freethinkers_in_Wisconsin_54-7) [***i***](#cite_ref-Freethinkers_in_Wisconsin_54-8) [***j***](#cite_ref-Freethinkers_in_Wisconsin_54-9) [***k***](#cite_ref-Freethinkers_in_Wisconsin_54-10) [***l***](#cite_ref-Freethinkers_in_Wisconsin_54-11) [***m***](#cite_ref-Freethinkers_in_Wisconsin_54-12) [***n***](#cite_ref-Freethinkers_in_Wisconsin_54-13) ["Freethinkers in Wisconsin"](https://web.archive.org/web/20090704023630/http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/dictionary/index.asp?action=view&term_id=11488&term_type_id=1&term_type_text=People&letter=F). Dictionary of Wisconsin History. 2008. Archived from [the original](http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/dictionary/index.asp?action=view&term_id=11488&term_type_id=1&term_type_text=People&letter=F) on 2009-07-04. Retrieved 2008-07-27.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-American_Irreligion_1966_55-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-American_Irreligion_1966_55-1) Demerath, N. J. III and Victor Thiessen, "On Spitting Against the Wind: Organizational Precariousness and American Irreligion," *The American Journal of Sociology*, 71: 6 (May, 1966), 674–87.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-ftt_56-0)** ["National Liberal League"](http://www.freethought-trail.org/profile.php?By=Person&Page=30). *The Freethought Trail*. freethought-trail.org. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20140309180155/http://www.freethought-trail.org/profile.php?By=Person&Page=30) from the original on 9 March 2014. Retrieved 9 March 2014.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Sauk_County_Freethinkers_57-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Sauk_County_Freethinkers_57-1) ["History of the Free Congregation of Sauk County: The "Freethinkers" Story"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120326214734/http://www.freecongregation.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=52&Itemid=59). Free Congregation of Sauk County. April 2009. Archived from [the original](http://www.freecongregation.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=52&Itemid=59) on 2012-03-26. Retrieved 2012-02-05.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Anderson_58-0)** William Roba; Fredrick I. Anderson (ed.) (1982). *Joined by a River: Quad Cities*. Davenport: Lee Enterprises. p. 73. {{[cite book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_book)}}: |author2= has generic name ([help](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:CS1_errors#generic_name))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-59)** ["The Turners, Forty-eighters and Freethinkers"](http://ffrf.org/fttoday/2002/junejuly02/gascho.php). Freedom from Religion Foundation. July 2002. Retrieved 2008-07-27.{{[cite web](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_web)}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_deprecated_archival_service))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-60)** Koenig, Brigitte Anne (2000). [*American Anarchism: The Politics of Gender, Culture, and Community from Haymarket to the First World War*](https://books.google.com/books?id=45pNAQAAMAAJ). Vol. 2. University of California, Berkeley. p. 315. Retrieved 11 April 2021. [...] parts of the anarchist movement in the United States actually stemmed from freethought circles [...].

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-mises.org_61-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-mises.org_61-1) ["The Journal of Libertarian Studies"](https://mises.org/journals/jls/5_3/5_3_4.pdf) (PDF). *Mises Institute*. 2014-07-30. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20130911065010/http://www.mises.org/journals/jls/5_3/5_3_4.pdf) (PDF) from the original on 2013-09-11. Retrieved 12 June 2015.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-62)** Xavier Diez (2007). ["El anarquismo individualista en España (1923–1939)"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120324044614/http://www.viruseditorial.net/pdf/anarquismo%2520individualista.pdf) (PDF). p. 143. Archived from [the original](http://www.viruseditorial.net/pdf/anarquismo%2520individualista.pdf) (PDF) on 2012-03-24. Retrieved 2023-01-02.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-63)** Xavier Diez (2007). ["El anarquismo individualista en España (1923–1939)"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120324044614/http://www.viruseditorial.net/pdf/anarquismo%2520individualista.pdf) (PDF). p. 152. Archived from [the original](http://www.viruseditorial.net/pdf/anarquismo%2520individualista.pdf) (PDF) on 2012-03-24. Retrieved 2023-01-02.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Fidler_64-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Fidler_64-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Fidler_64-2) Geoffrey C. Fidler (Spring–Summer 1985). "The Escuela Moderna Movement of Francisco Ferrer: "Por la Verdad y la Justicia"". *History of Education Quarterly*. **25** (1/2): 103–32. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.2307/368893](https://doi.org/10.2307%2F368893). [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR_(identifier)) [368893](https://www.jstor.org/stable/368893). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [147119437](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:147119437).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-65)** ["Francisco Ferrer's Modern School"](https://web.archive.org/web/20100807032003/http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/spain/ferrer.html). Flag.blackened.net. Archived from [the original](http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/spain/ferrer.html) on 2010-08-07. Retrieved 2010-09-20.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-66)** Fitzpatrick, M.; Jones, P.; Knellwolf, C.; McCalman, I. (2004). *The Enlightenment World*. Routledge.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-jacob_67-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-jacob_67-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-jacob_67-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-jacob_67-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-jacob_67-4) Jacob, Margaret C. (1991). *Living the Enlightenment: [Freemasonry](/source/Freemasonry) and Politics in Eighteenth-Century Europe*. Oxford University Press.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-stevenson_68-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-stevenson_68-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-stevenson_68-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-stevenson_68-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-stevenson_68-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-stevenson_68-5) Stevenson, David (1988). *The Origins of Freemasonry*. Cambridge University Press. pp. 179–203.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-berman_69-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-berman_69-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-berman_69-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-berman_69-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-berman_69-4) Berman, Ric (2012). *Foundations of Modern Freemasonry*. pp. 57–63.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-israel_70-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-israel_70-1) Israel, Jonathan (2006). *Enlightenment Contested*. Oxford University Press. pp. 3–28.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-franklin_71-0)** [Franklin, Benjamin](/source/Benjamin_Franklin) (2004). *The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin*. Dover Publications. p. 106.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-bullock_72-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-bullock_72-1) Bullock, Steven C. (2011). *Revolutionary Brotherhood*.

## Further reading

- Alexander, Nathan G. (2019). *Race in a Godless World: Atheism, Race, and Civilization, 1850-1914*. New York/Manchester: New York University Press/Manchester University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1526142375](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1526142375)

- Alexander Nathan G. ["Unclasping the Eagle's Talons: Mark Twain, American Freethought, and the Responses to Imperialism."](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-the-gilded-age-and-progressive-era/article/unclasping-the-eagles-talons-mark-twain-american-freethought-and-the-responses-to-imperialism/F85104CA5DCB59134C7D67CAC8BB7914) *The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era* 17, no. 3 (2018): 524–545.

- [Bury, John Bagnell](/source/J._B._Bury). (1913). [*A History of Freedom of Thought*](https://archive.org/details/historyoffreedomft00bury). New York: Henry Holt and Company.

- [Jacoby, Susan](/source/Susan_Jacoby). (2004). *Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism*. New York: Metropolitan Books. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-8050-7442-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8050-7442-2)

- [Putnam, Samuel Porter](/source/Samuel_Porter_Putnam). (1894). [*Four Hundred Years of Freethought*](https://archive.org/details/400yearsoffreeth00putn). New York: Truth Seeker Company.

- [Royle, Edward](/source/Edward_Royle). (1974). [*Victorian Infidels: The Origins of the British Secularist Movement, 1791–1866*](https://web.archive.org/web/20051030113212/http://www.secularism.org.uk/uploads/3542a971e965ac1647844952.pdf). Manchester: Manchester University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-7190-0557-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7190-0557-4)

- Royle, Edward. (1980). *Radicals, Secularists and Republicans: popular freethought in Britain, 1866–1915*. Manchester: Manchester University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-7190-0783-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7190-0783-6)

- [Tribe, David](/source/David_Tribe). (1967). *100 Years of Freethought*. London: Elek Books.

## External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to ***[Freethought](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Special:Search/Freethought)***.

English [Wikisource](/source/Wikisource) has original text related to this article:

**[A Biographical Dictionary of Ancient, Medieval, and Modern Freethinkers](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/en:A_Biographical_Dictionary_of_Ancient,_Medieval,_and_Modern_Freethinkers)**

- [A History of Freethought](https://atheistfoundation.org.au/article/a-history-of-freethought)

- ["Freethinker"](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_New_International_Encyclop%C3%A6dia/Freethinker). *[New International Encyclopedia](/source/New_International_Encyclopedia)*. 1905.

- [Freethought In A Nutshell by the North Texas Church of Freethought](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPDWB0iD77E) (video on [YouTube](/source/YouTube))

[Portals](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Contents/Portals):
- [Philosophy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Philosophy)
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Freethought](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freethought) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freethought?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.