Tag Archives: #philosophy

Freedom and Individualism

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Colonial America was influenced significantly by philosophical ideas concerning freedom and the control of nature that many of us take for granted today.

One of the most influential of these ideas is the concept of independent human individuality, generally attributed to such thinkers as Petrarch and Erasmus, which emerged to form the conceptual foundations for the humanist movement.

Individualism has sometimes been associated with egotism and selfishness, but the concept was originally conceived as respect for the validity of the views and experience of the individual within his or her own sphere, and the ideal that each of us should be encouraged to develop our own natural gifts.

Humanism developed as a dialog among Christian thinkers and generated considerable controversy. Some of the resulting conflicts have never been resolved. The particular ideas that ultimately became most influential in the development of western civilization focused on the will to freedom and the notion of human control over nature.

Writing of this history, the American philosopher and political scientist Michael Allen Gillespie, a professor at Duke University, has observed that “modernity has two goals – to make man master and possessor of nature and to make human freedom possible. The question that remains is whether these two are compatible with one another.” (2008)

These ideas had a profound impact. First appearing during the European Renaissance, the historic transition from medieval to modern times, humanism gradually crystallized into the conviction that an ideal future civilization would bring freedom and prosperity to the world through the progress of science and rational governance.

To many the United States of America came to embody that promise.

The philosophical contradictions were, however, swept under the carpet and remain to this day. The fact that nature and the physical realm, (as well as the inevitable constraints of a complex society), impose limits to freedom rarely enters into consideration.

What limits? Well, we care for our families, whatever that requires. We cooperate with the necessary requirements of our employment. We commit ourselves willingly to civic engagements: athletic teams or dance recitals for our kids, charitable organizations and religious communities, all of which can take up most of our wakeful hours. And, we rarely fail to notice the impositions made upon us by government and the weather.

As with our social circumstances, the physical environment is an ever-present reality in our lives. We normally take these things for granted. But, there is more. The challenges to our sense of personal independence and integrity seem to be everywhere now. Even our principles are challenged.

By definition the word “freedom” implies that there is something we wish “to be free from.”
Many things can chafe in life, particularly the actions of others. Domineering and dysfunctional institutions are particularly aggravating in a time of deteriorating conditions. Yet, human beings have risen above the natural constraints in life to find meaning in a free society.

What is it that the world gained with the founding of the United States?

I believe we will find it useful to reflect on the development of our assumptions about freedom, a range of ideas that are central to the American character and have co-existed for 200 years with apparent ease, but which contain certain logical inconsistencies.

Clear thinking is of great importance today. A lack of clarity could subvert our best intentions, allowing muddled assumptions to fester behind the tension and contentiousness that threatens our self-confidence at the present turning point.

I suggest that we each reflect on what freedom means to us personally, not simply as a principle but in our immediate lives. We will explore this and related questions here in the coming weeks.

Tom

Next week: A Conflicted Legacy.

Compassion is hard…

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Sunrise 1-x

“Let us not underestimate how hard it is to be compassionate. Compassion is hard because it requires the inner disposition to go with others to the place where they are weak, vulnerable, lonely, and broken. But this is not our spontaneous response to suffering. What we desire most is to do away with suffering by fleeing from it or finding a quick cure for it….

“Compassion asks us to go where it hurts, to enter into the places of pain…. Compassion means full immersion in the condition of being human.”

–Henri J.M. Nouwen

Indulgence, pride, a lack of shame…

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City 3 NYC

“Self-centered indulgence, pride, and a lack of shame over sin are now emblems of the American lifestyle.”
–Billy Graham

“Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith.”
–Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America (1840)

The Bedrock of Ethics

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During the past week we learned that the website AshleyMadison, which caters to cheating spouses, faces threats by hackers to reveal the names and personal details of as many as 37 million customers if the site is not taken down.

Soon after these revelations were made public it became apparent that popular opinion supports AshleyMadison and views the web-based service as a victim of injustice.

Here we have a classic example of the deeper, underlying crisis I wrote about a week ago.  I submitted to you, dear readers, that we are witnessing a stunning loss of personal integrity – a broad failure of honesty, trustworthiness, responsibility on a societal scale.

I suggested that this is a deepening quagmire that influences our institutions, our government, and our lives at every level, and will certainly play a key role in every one of the diverse, oncoming crises that presently loom before us.

Clearly, there has been a loss of ethical grounding to such a degree that no amount of righteous exhortation will have any useful effect.

In my view, the institution of marriage plays an irreplaceable role in securing the foundations for social stability and well-being.

While marriage may not be for everyone, it is impossible to imagine how civil order could be maintained in a productive society without the values and virtues and civilizing influences that are inculcated in each generation by stable marriages and responsible, caring parents.

Marriage is not easy. It is the hardest thing many of us ever do. But, when we understand the importance of it we persevere, and seek the profoundly personal rewards of an integrity that comes with age.

What exactly do the clients of AshleyMadison and their sympathizers not understand? Can they not imagine the strength and resilience of that stronghold of safety and well-being that is a true and honest marriage? Do they believe themselves incapable of this? Or, does the shame and sorrow of infidelity simply represent a fleeting capitulation to personal failure?

Clearly they fail to understand how and why a civilized world must depend on trust and responsibility, or to recognize the integrating role of marriage when it is woven into the fabric of life.

What utter devastation there is in the emotional wasteland of a socially disintegrating world!

How will we address this problem?

One cannot put out a fire by aiming a fire extinguisher at the flames as they flicker in the air. A fire can only be extinguished at the site that is burning.

Attacking the flames will accomplish nothing. People do not respond well to preaching or finger-wagging, especially when their perspective feels good to them and seems quite rational.

It is for this reason that I have drawn your attention to the potential safety and dependability of our own communities – if and when we do the basic work of opening communication, inviting cooperation to address local needs, and building trust.

In my view, community-building is the only context where honest listening and learning and soulful change can take place on a meaningful scale.

We must learn how to make this happen. I do not believe it can happen anywhere else.

Until the wayward and the lost discover that their lives and well-being depend on the security and stability of their local communities; until they recognize the necessity for trust and responsibility in their own comfort or survival, the wisdom of values and virtues will be lost on them.

These great lessons will not be learned and understood by our friends and neighbors without a struggle. We will have to engage patiently, intimately, to work through the hardships of survival and community development together one step at a time.

Principled truth can only be introduced gradually, honestly, effectively, in the context of the tests we are subjected to as loyal compatriots.

No, it will not be easy. Discipline is never easy on the threshold of change. But with an understanding of purpose comes true freedom, and the struggle to get there will be at least as rewarding for the teacher as for the taught.

Tom

Next week: Seeing the end in the beginning

A note to readers: Please note the chapter drafts available on this site, especially Chapter Six: The Ground of Freedom, and Chapter Nine: The Individual in Society.

Where we are going…

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Lake 2

“If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.”

–Yogi Berra

The Trial of Principle

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Mountain 11 Rockies

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

–Albert Einstein

“Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.”

–Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Adversity is the trial of principle. Without it, a man hardly knows whether he is honest or not.”

–Henry Fielding

Values That Matter

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Readers responded last week to my request for thinking about shared values for a genuine American renewal. What values can we agree on, I asked, as a foundation for a unified starting point – a common American “center” that transcends culture, religion, politics?

[This exchange of ideas took place primarily on the blog’s Facebook page, where more than 80 readers clicked post like: http://www.facebook.com/freedomstruth ]

Ideas were offered and important points were made. Values were identified and we heard the deeply felt need for government policies that reflect them. Frustrations were expressed, as well as some feelings verging on hopelessness.

I wrote of my belief that a small unified core of determined Americans could generate a powerful moral presence, if we articulate essential values clearly and project a vision for the future with a compassionate and welcoming spirit.

This would be immensely attractive to a nation desperate for the feel of solid ground beneath its feet.

A dynamic initiative will not require large numbers at the start. It will grow rapidly. I believe the vision of a civil order based on trust and responsibility will draw Americans to it from every walk of life – from every religious faith, from every economic condition and political philosophy.

A signed pledge would make individual commitment very clear. Such a pledge could be added in the back of the book, if you think this is a good idea. Please let me know what you think.

The hard part is this: It will require a willingness to temporarily set aside some of the political differences that separate us – until such time as we have secured the stability necessary to address common problems in our communities.

What is essential is not that we agree on every aspect of personal belief, but that we join with one another to restore the integrity of a civil society that allows for constructive cooperation, engaging with one another respectfully, so that we can secure the safety of our families and the economic well-being of local and regional communities.

If this is our priority we cannot allow America to disintegrate in unrestrained acrimony and hostility. We will have to choose our battles. Some will have to be fought on another day.

My request for your thinking may not have been clear regarding the distinction between government policies and the principles behind them. My intention here is to take the first step in building a foundation on which we can then proceed to structure debate and build policy.

Among genuinely committed Americans, finding common ground in our values will alter perceptions and increase our ability to actually listen to one another.

Stephen Covey wrote that “most people listen with the intent to reply, not to understand.” If Americans are to recover the vision of this country as free and fair, this will have to change.

In his best-selling book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey wrote:
“Every human has four endowments — self awareness, conscience, independent will and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom, the power to choose, to respond, to change.”

Our challenge is to establish a condition, a mental space, in which we can sustain this freedom and attract our fellow-Americans to it.

Having asked you last week to identify the values that should characterize such a condition, I will share those that I consider essential for a free and just society.

I add these to our commitment to defend the Constitution and respect the rule of law: Justice, equity, truthfulness, honesty, fair-mindedness, reliability, trustworthiness, and responsibility.

There you have it. These values are essentially universal, having been taught by every world religion down through the ages. Unfortunately, many of the followers of religion don’t get it, and so our work is cut out for us.

I would appreciate receiving another round of feedback from readers. Please focus your comments on basic values and the principles to live by – and share the reasons why you think the future of the world depends upon them.

Tom

In the coming weeks: Economic reconstruction and a future built on fairness.

Note to readers: You can support this blog and the book project by suggesting that your friends and associates take a look.

A Freedom of Differences

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Coast 6

“Opinion has caused more trouble on this little earth than plagues or earthquakes.”

–Voltaire

“I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.”

–Thomas Jefferson

“To be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”

–Nelson Mandela

Principled Means, Principled Ends

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There are two reasons why political violence will never get Americans where we want to go. One is tactical. The second is strategic – and far more important.

I do not believe foreign powers will ever seriously challenge our national integrity. 2015 is not 1776. Rather, the danger lies within. The fight involves ideas, and the sincerity of our relationships with one another.

Yet, we seem to hear implied threats of armed rebellion. One hopes the partisan will read the Second Amendment very carefully. (Please see January 2 post.)

Any patriot of today preparing for armed resistance in the tradition of 1776 will pit himself against an extraordinary opponent. He will be outmaneuvered and outgunned by fully militarized police possessing the most advanced surveillance technology and backed by massive firepower.

The mythical ideal of the citizen soldier remains deeply engrained in the American psyche. But the plain fact is, if we imagine a heroic Star Wars scenario in defense of freedom and justice, we are in la-la land.

I am not interested in arguing about this, because there is a much more significant problem with this kind of thinking. And it is this:

American police agencies and the United States military are served by Americans.

As I wrote here last week, violence committed by Americans against Americans would contradict the rationale behind the impetus to violence itself. It would be self-contradictory, pitting us against one another and subverting the integrity and viability of the American Idea as a guiding force for the good.

These are our people, our sons and daughters, friends and neighbors. They are working people. They may be working for deluded or destructive political and economic forces, but they are Americans who should be approached respectfully and won over by persuasive argument and compassionate example.

Our views on government overreach, threats to the integrity of the Constitution, or the loss of liberty in any form are serious matters that must be addressed. But, public servants, police officers and bureaucrats are not the problem.

We must respect these people, not just as a matter of principle, but because we need them. They are essential to a constructive solution.

Any resort to violence within the American community will tear the fabric of the republic and threaten the safety of our families and communities. And, it is simply not necessary.

Some may think the financial elite are our opponents or some dark conspiracy, but it will be our own people, Americans from our own communities, who serve on the front lines arrayed against the self-styled patriot-hero.

Americans will not be persuaded if we are attacked. When people are confronted with hostility we close ranks in self-defense.

Even the misguided rebellion of tiny splinter groups will be destructive to the cause of liberty. This can easily lead to cascading consequences in which violence begets violence in a downward spiral, endangering everyone and threatening the progress of constructive action.

As aggravating as our neighbors may be, it is really not necessary for us to agree about everything. Our differences must be respected, yes. But, if we want to rebuild the foundations of the republic, the American people must rise above our differences to resolve practical problems, define shared values, and together assert the moral center of the nation.

I did not say it would be easy.

The essential question to ask ourselves, and the question by which to judge constructive action, is the spirit and quality of the future we wish to secure. This is not a theoretical nicety. It is a necessity.

Going to war with our fellow citizens would make no sense. Indeed, the ends we seek could be delayed by decades and possibly destroyed by an impractical or intemperate course of action.

Tom

Next week: A Foundation Based on Values