Freedom played a big role in Dostoevsky’s “The Grand Inquisitor”; Freedom or liberty was discussed in “This is Water” and The Ignorant Schoolmaster; freedom plays a role in Stoic philosophy (esp. Epictetus’ The Manual); Nietzsche thinks we would be truly free if we accepted the demon’s proposal in the “Greatest Weight.” The problem with a word like ‘freedom’ is that it seems like everyone has a different definition and meaning of it. I want you to pick one text and really try to spell out exactly what does this author mean when s/he use the word ‘freedom.’ What is involved in his/her conception of freedom? What are the benefits, the costs? The pros and cons? What other things or ideas is ‘freedom’ related to, according to this thinker? One can distinguish Freedom into two types: freedom to (do something) [this is called POSITIVE FREEDOM; these are sometimes called rights or liberties] and freedom from (something) [this is called NEGATIVE FREEDOM]. Does your thinker distinguish between positive and negative freedom? What is someone free to do? After you have laid out what Freedom means to the author, I want you to offer some possible criticisms of the view. What do you find lacking or missing in this view? How might you critique this view? What do you disagree with? Lastly, how might the thinker respond to some of these criticisms? What would they say in response to the criticisms?
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