Ebook: A Wild West of the Mind

This book defends the thesis that no thoughts are morally forbidden—that as long as we don’t act on them, even the nastiest attitudes, most biased beliefs, and vilest fantasies are not morally off limits. The book divides into two parts, the first a critical examination of the reasons for believing that thoughts are subject to moral regulation, the second a discussion of the mental freedom that we gain if they are not. The earlier chapters discuss attempts to defend the moral regulation of thought on consequentialist and deontological grounds and from the point of view of virtue theory. In each case, the verdict is not favorable to moralism. The book’s second, more positive section defends a conception of freedom of mind in which freedom from moral regulation plays a central role. In the spirit of Orwell, it argues that because the course of thought is unpredictable, mental freedom requires the ability to follow one’s thoughts wherever they lead. It argues, as well, that without this form of mental freedom, we would be far less interesting both to others and to ourselves. Even when some of what we think is ugly, there is beauty and value in our being able to think it.

Keywords: thought, belief, fantasy, attitude, morality, freedom of mind, George Orwell