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It seems clear to me that "religions, cults, and political tribes" that enforce uniform behavior are by definition restricting freedom. Which is not to say tha
by slibhb 6y ago
It seems clear to me that "religions, cults, and political tribes" that enforce uniform behavior are by definition restricting freedom.
Which is not to say that freedom is never worth restricting. My general point was that I prefer American notions of freedom to East Asian notions of freedom.
- mcculley 6y agoThis is a false dichotomy. We don't have only U.S. apathy and East Asian collectivism as our choices. We could invest in public health infrastructure. We won't, but that is another topic.
- yosito 6y agoPlato's famous works were about this. One of his ideas was to create the perfect state in which good behavior didn't have to be enforced by laws, by instilling people with an internal sense of morality that they willingly want to follow. Early Judeo-Christian societies were built around this idea. If people are doing what they want to do, and that aligns with what society needs them to do, then their freedom doesn't have to be restricted.
- slibhb 6y agoYes, The Republic, and Plato's last dialogue is called Laws and it describes a state governed by laws. Judeo-Christian societies were and are based on deontology i.e. the ten commandments. What you're talking about is the harmonization of all interests around a single ideal, something that never ends well (including Plato's attempt in Syracuse). It's been criticized to death by liberal philosophers, in my opinion rightly.