[OccupyComms] What is Freedom? Presentation

[Anna Harris]

Thank you, Colm, for this treatise on individual and collective freedom. There is much that could be said about it, including questioning the original dichotomy. It doesn't have to be either or. In fact it is necessary to have both. A collective freedom, which ignores whether individuals feel free, or which does not respect the freedom of minorities, may just be the appearance of freedom.

But my main point would be the omission of the mother child relationship as the basis for social relationships. All the philosophers you quote are of course men, who do not recognise the fundamental bond by which society coheres. This is not just an oversight. The defence against our more vulnerable and tender feelings is a widespread pattern of civilisation which has led us to our present existential crisis. When half the players are ignored, particularly those who have to do with the early years of human development, then we have a very skewed perspective on society, and particularly on freedom. 

When politics is seen as the relationship between friend and foe, it has already lost touch with the humanity which sees us all as part of one big family. Yes, I like your definition of political as involving defiance and acceptance. But acceptance does not just mean obedience to tyranny. When a mother accepts the defiance of her child she is encouraging his independence and initiative. When we welcome diversity instead of resisting difference, we will enrich our collective and individual freedoms.

Anna



On 27 Mar 2015, at 14:00, Mark Barrett <marknbarrett at googlemail.com> wrote:

"This de-politicization I will term political euthanasia. Political
euthanasia is not insignificant. Where there are no values worth
living or dying for, there are no longer any friends or enemies.
Instead, there is only technology, economics and a nebulous version of
culture. In other words, there is the Liberal world-view made solid.
Everything is relativized with respect to the absolute centre of
individuals.

In passing, it is interesting to note that political euthanasia often
brings with it an augmenting of the State's power.."

Here is the summary, and link to the full text of the main
presentation given at the inaugural What is Freedom? meeting, launched
last Sunday at our local Mosque. Well worth a read!
http://carlschmittblog.com/2015/03/26/love-defiance-and-community/?fb_action_ids=726555794127818&fb_action_types=news.publishes&fb_ref=pub-standard

We plan to continue the conversation with a follow up on what it means
to be a (free) human being very soon. More to follow insha'Allaah

Cheers

Mark

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