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NOTE: neologies and ambiguous terms clarified in GLOSSARY
are marked "[G]".
BBD.FREEDOM
Freedom, the first dogmatic slogan written on the
flags of all `Republics' is as such a Noumenon[G], a
meaningless, empty noise. The question if I am, or may
be free has sense only with respect to a context, to
a Referential[G]. This context is more or less
strongly ordered with the basic Orderer Causality
which has two aspects Effectivity and Finality.
(See MORPHOGENESIS and CAUSALITY).
Only Finality is pertinent to Freedom. I'm certainly
not free to act in any way on past events. Once I have
kicked a dog, there is no way I may unkick it.
Finality accounts for all our acts, from most
important, like deciding a world war to most trivial
like getting out of bed in the morning. Even science
while investigating Effectivity for factual evidence,
reposes itself entirely in Finality, when conceiving
its Axioms and Theorems, or planning its experiments.
After these preliminaries let's move to Freedom
itself. As we have seen in previous chapters, Freedom
is the inverse aspect of Order: highly ordered systems
have few degrees of Freedom, chaotic ones have high,
innumerable amount of them. For a human being, the
Freedom degrees of his context represent options of
his choice. Thus, on the face of it, I am less free
within highly ordered context than within a less
ordered my Freedom becoming illimited within the
chaos.
However, under closer examination the problem appears
more complex. Let's consider the highway code. It's a
highly ordered system. It forbids me to drive on the
left, to cross continuous line and red lights, etc.
In return it leaves one Freedom degree open: the
option to drive. Similarly, all social systems are
ordered by some code which blocks most of rights,
leaving open only very few. Thus, any social system
may be considered allegorically as a "prison".
Yet, perhaps a social system guaranteeing all rights,
without restricting anything would allow us to escape
from all prisons and to be entirely free? Well, let's
imagine the system "Road" without highway code, a
chaotic system with unrestricted Freedom.
After having evaded some trucks driving on the left
and one or two cars cutting in through red lights, one
will stop at the road side amazed to be still alive.
Driving became impossible. Newly opened rights act as
obstacles blocking the essential Freedom to drive. And
if you cannot drive, what is the use of the newly
acquired Freedom to drive on the left? Paradoxically,
a chaotic system by opening too much Freedom kills it
entirely. Chaos, the absolute Freedom results in no
Freedom at all. A totally free system becomes the
strictest prison.
In this light Order appears as "Freedom-to" granted by
"Freedom-from". Order emerges from chaos by closing
most of hindering Freedom degrees and leaving open
only a few. In case they coincide with my desires I
consider the system as a "good prison", otherwise as
a bad one. In a good prison I am FREE FROM hindrances
and FREE TO perform desired actions efficiently.
Ordered road grants me FREEDOM TO drive efficiently by
granting the FREEDOM FROM stress and danger. Order
stimulates efficiency and chaos paralyzes it. One can
accomplish something only within an ordered context.
Illusory absolute Freedom of chaos and restricted, but
real Freedom of order are beautifully contrasted in
Faulkner's novellas "The Wild Palms" and "Old Man".
In "The Wild Palms" Harry motivated by love refuses
all rules and conventions, goes down all steps of the
social ladder and finishes by killing Charlotte, the
very object of his love for whose sake he had claimed
this absolute Freedom.
In "Old Man" the Tall Convict executes orders of
prison guard and battles the great Mississippi flood
to save a pregnant woman. Free to stay out he returns
spontaneously to prison to regain the specific
Freedom of his destiny.
The only Freedom we have is Freedom to choose a prison
like the Tall Convict did.
Finality may be seen as a project encompassing some
potential options each of which may be chosen and
converted into active Final Cause. Faced with these
options I may chose some or none. However, refusal to
chose is a particular choice, a decision committing
the future, so I am bound to exert my Freedom.
We are not only free, we are sentenced to Freedom.
