Free Thinking

Add your comment to this debate

Please add your comments to the debate 'How do I know that my beliefs are not, in fact, my prejudices?'
Did you change your position on this subject because you heard a new point of view?

A selection of comments will be published here.

Clo
When I read this question I thought how do I answer this without looking stupid? Our thoughts are individual unique, We may not always say them because we may cause offence but sometimes thats what we want. I think to label our thoughts may be prejudice then thats like saying what the point in thinking. Why at this time era do we have to always turn individuality into something wrong. Would you say dont breathe because evry breath you take emits carbon dioxide therefore global warming occurs? No you wouldn't. If we did that we would die so why let our thoughts die because they may seem prejudice?

Alan Flood
World view is the same as having a religious belief. An example would be Richard Dawkins who has an a priori commitment to metaphysical naturalism. A appeal to 'Reason' as some kind of arbiter that occupies a spectators gallery is in my opinion a religious ground motive. This modernist idea is now being questioned by some post modernists. Check out 'The Myth of Religious Neutrality' by Roy Clouser. Also see John Grays book 'Straw Dogs'

amir schorr
beliefs and prejudices are two words for the same concept. I belive You have your prejedice

John Small
I find myself coming up against this suggestion every time I set out to join a debate on the theme of morality. It is really nothing more than an attempt to discourage the hesitant believer in objective good and evil from his convictions. There is another version that I often come across -if I say that (for instance) it's wrong for a gang of kids to take someone's mobile, because theft is wrong, my opponent says, 'That's your opinion'. It has been accepted for many millennia that there does exist an objective body of natural/supernatural law that is binding on us all. If I murder someone, knowing that my crime will never be found out, I will still be overborne by guilt and fear, because natural law is real and inescapable. I can't even escape it by giving myself to the police. It's possible that I would be convicted and punished; but equally, the kindly desk sergeant might look through his papers and say, 'No, you go home, sir - we're sure it was an accident', and I would be left, not with a mere opinion of my guilt but with an absolute certainty of it.