Frances's Share: killed by the revolution he admired
Updated: Sep 11
From Frances: I like the way the article starts with an intriguing and rather uncomfortable real life story about an academic and later activist, from the mid 20th century. Then it shows how the evolution of philosophical ideas - particularly about what freedom really means, and how it can feel to individuals - serially illustrate aspects of the academic’s behavior and thoughts. It brings us up to the present day, showing how mass communication and internet algorithms mirror this in our present western society, setting us into “tribes” who fail to hear and understand what others are saying.
In a nutshell: Individual freedom can leave us feeling our lives have no meaning and no connection to anything bigger than ourselves, so we search for some group or “cause” which can provide that missing meaning and sense of belonging. Adherence to our cause creates enemies of those who feel differently or adhere to some other cause, and we outdo ourselves to prove our loyalty and purity of belief by fighting our enemies who we see as evil.
Annoyingly, the article doesn’t really come up with any ideas about what to do about the situation. It made me wonder about the role of the individual in liberal democracy. Are we truly isolated atoms of humanity (as in the US declaration of independence… "we take it as self evident that….each created equal…..etc etc”) or are we better thought of as parts of various groups/families/tribes/religions/interest groups of all sorts, and ultimately a part of a conscious universe. Or are we potentially all those things?
I know this is a bit long winded and a bit esoteric……. But it would still be interesting to think through ideas to bridge those gaps in understanding.
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