Timothy Snyder's "On Freedom"
Has anyone else read this?
in a nutshell he proposes a "fifth dimension" of virtues, but no single virtue holds sway, and a "free" person must navigate between virtues in their lifteime, sometimes emphasising one or other and deprioritising others.
An example he uses more than once is truth vs loyalty. But I guess any pair could be requistioned as an example. I found the book compellingly persuasive in a political/historical context as a nice kind person, but less so in a philosophical context. For example, there is no discussion of the list of "virtues".
in a nutshell he proposes a "fifth dimension" of virtues, but no single virtue holds sway, and a "free" person must navigate between virtues in their lifteime, sometimes emphasising one or other and deprioritising others.
An example he uses more than once is truth vs loyalty. But I guess any pair could be requistioned as an example. I found the book compellingly persuasive in a political/historical context as a nice kind person, but less so in a philosophical context. For example, there is no discussion of the list of "virtues".
Comments (4)
Im guessing people are probably more interested in his book On Tyranny right now.
Obvioulsy the notion of a "virtue" is troubling. For the sake of argument, suppose hatred is a "virtue". Then, as per Snyder's definition of freedom, I could be allowed to hate, albeit temporarily. Which sounds like a reasonble thing for a "free" person to do. It could even be progressive - for example a hatred of a dictator leading to action agains his or her downfall.
Perhaps it would be more appropriate to claim that a "free" person must navigatge between "stances" , rather than "virtues" in their lifetime?