So, how free do I think that I am?
There are few issues more compelling than individual freedom. Around fifteen or so of us, responding to an essay on Einstein’s morality, debated the whether and to what extent we are individually free. Einstein thought that there was no exception to the uniformity of cause and effect within a closed system. Yet, he also believed that we can be free. Freedom is experienced actions that are not coerced.
In the realm of philosophy, good questions are the most prized aspects of any dialog. The supreme value of a high quality question can be traced back to Socrates. Socrates went about the Agora posing questions particularly to the young at heart who were willing to listen. He thought of himself as a gadfly, a question that compels a response.
Seems to me that Chris and Peter each offered two A+ quality questions last night. Chris asked “To what extent and at what level do we exercise freedom?” Peter stated that since we did not choose to be born, how fair is it that we are thrown into this world, life itself demanding that we be free, the exercise of decision making in order to exist as a human being? Provocative questions indeed! Helpful responses were made to these “provocations” as we closed out our session.
Peter’s query reminded me of a rock and roll tune that was emblematic of the 60’s zeitgeist : Jim Morrison’s Riders On the Storm. Here are the lyrics and a long version of the tune. Close your eyes and listen. Intuitively you will understand the “knife edge” of the questions posed by Chris and Peter.
