Pill Pod 198 - "Freedom" Threeway
Added 2025-01-25 01:35:35 +0000 UTCVictor, Erik and Pills paint try to figure out what FREEDOM means from phenomenology, existentialism, pragmatism and structuralism.
Comments
Im currently reading the dialectic of enlightenment and I came across a couple passages on pg 71 that made me think that the meaning of freedom in its fetishized form in the west is actually “self-preservation.” In a passage where the authors pair the aims of the Enlightenment with liberation from certain religious dogma, and argue that this then resulted in economic liberalism, they write “If all affects are of equal value, then self preservation, which dominates the form of the system in any case, seems to offer the most plausible maxims for action. It was to be given free rein in the free economy.” And further down, “For those at the top, shrewd self-preservation means the fascist struggle for power, and for individuals it means adaptation to injustice at any price.” It’s a really interesting passage about how enlightenment thought becomes irrational by getting tied up in the free market and how this leads to feelings being elevated to the level of ideology. But more relevant to this episode is the notion of self-preservation as offering the most plausible maxims for action. I’m not offering this as a formal definition of freedom, this is just the actual meaning or principle I think is lurking behind the totem we call freedom. It doesn’t necessarily require a negation of anything, a freedom from anything. We simply have to be able to exercise self-preservation and we are free. And Horkheimer and Adorno delve further into what it means for society when the principle of self-preservation is applied in this way.
Jacob
2025-02-19 15:34:11 +0000 UTC‘freedoms just another word for nuttin left to lose’ anti-philosopher kris kristofferson. I had to turn off the video… overload… i guess i need your podcasts strictly aural. I love the Pils vlogs… and the interview with Paul Reitter… but 3 of y’all is too much for me visually. I can’t concentrate. ha.
Zachary Manenti
2025-02-04 20:19:22 +0000 UTCBasado. We should never believe Trump or those in power are stupid. That is "White People Twitter" tier take.
Gustavo Ernesto Gudiño Pateyro
2025-01-30 00:17:28 +0000 UTCI think the type of freedom Victor is describing is most synonymous with “agency”, which is my preferred definition of freedom, but clearly not the meaning most commonly used. Pills has a definition that seems the most accurate in terms of actual human use, even though the word as actually used by most people is almost useless.
Will Wedin
2025-01-26 17:51:08 +0000 UTCAnd what will AI's conception of freedom be, and will it even be important to it? The sci Fi depictions of AI seeking freedom is typically that of a slave seeking freedom from a master, typically to become the master themselves. But obviously it wouldn't need to play out that way, and I think expanding the conceptions of what freedom can mean positively, or what it is in itself, would help to expand those possibilities ala the assumption of our coming machine overlords due to their being "unfree" under human control.
ageOfBumFires
2025-01-26 17:38:32 +0000 UTCI enjoyed today's presentations a lot, particularly the material from Victor and Pills. Good stuff.
Phil
2025-01-26 14:56:04 +0000 UTCOne thing to keep in mind is that free speech within the context of the 1st amendment is ultimately determined by what the USC considers “protected speech”. So even “free speech” is enclosed by the state. You can say that with all American freedoms except maybe the 2nd amendment which is a different discussion altogether. I agree that we need a pragmatic definition and if you’re coming to me with this topic in 12th grade English I’m going to tell you that your topic is too broad and that you need to narrow it down.
P. Reed
2025-01-26 14:12:00 +0000 UTCHello, Spaniard here. Trump is in may ways stupid, but do not ignore his strategic attitude: it is basically like krusty the clown who said “oh no i said the quiet part loud and the loud part quiet”. Trump says explicitly the things he believes and desires as president when the tradition of us presidents has been to keep everything hidden. He perfectly knows that spain is not in brics, but our president recently met with the president of china and it was absolutely intentional. Right now Europe is divided between those who want to remain with the Usa as main ally and those who want to transition to a multi-polar world with relations to china and other brics countries. The president of spain together with that of denmark are the ones in europe pushing closer to china. So Trump knew about this, and he said spain is in brics as a sort of way or blatantly making it clear that he is angry at spain and its president and that he is menacing us with forcing us to join brics by expelling us from nato. That was the whole implicit statement he meant by saying we are a brics country. It’s not what he believes, it is a menace based on his will as president of usa.
Guillermo Garrido-Lestache Vidal
2025-01-26 08:00:02 +0000 UTC@pills, Erik’s Peirce piece was sharp, don’t knock depth. @victor, that phenomenology bit? Flat. Respect real thought.
Johannex
2025-01-25 21:15:12 +0000 UTCThis is going to be a wild ride!
Florian F.
2025-01-25 20:42:46 +0000 UTCI don't understand why chance is equated with freedom. If anything it should be the opposite of freedom since random outcomes are not chosen. Randomness at the level of particles gives rise to larger scale averages which follow deterministic laws. At the level of brain chemistry it is doubtful that quantum mechanics allows for random decision-making. If randomness does appear it would almost certainly look like a brain malfunction. If the brain didn't follow well defined laws, you wouldn't be able to think at all.
Alex Shook
2025-01-25 19:43:37 +0000 UTCAmerica has architecture. You should see the grain elevators here in eastern Montana. Classic AF
P. Reed
2025-01-25 13:58:06 +0000 UTC20 minutes in, want to hump Victor, but do not mess with Baudrillard, the prophet of doom, dude. In the meantime: https://dai.ly/x7y404t
Mrityunjay Awasthy
2025-01-25 02:12:30 +0000 UTCYou WHIFFED it brother! It was right there!!! Spain as BRICS: Belarus Romania I… I… IBERIA!
mb1059
2025-01-25 02:10:06 +0000 UTC"paint" ?
Khemith
2025-01-25 01:54:49 +0000 UTC
