Freedom Paradox
Towards a post-secular ethics
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A radical reconsideration of the meaning of freedom and morality in the modern world.
Why is it so many of us lack contentment, despite all the wealth and freedoms we enjoy?
The past two centuries delivered individual and political freedoms that promised unprecedented opportunities for personal fulfilment. Yet citizens of affluent countries are encouraged to pursue lives of consumerism, endless choice and the pleasures of the body.
Clive Hamilton argues that the paradox of modern consumer life is that we are deprived of our inner freedom by our very pursuit of our own desires. He turns to metaphysics to find a source of transformation that lies beyond the cultural, political and social philosophies that form the bedrock of contemporary western thought.
His search takes him to an unexpected conclusion: that we cannot be truly free unless we commit ourselves to a moral life. The implications of this conclusion are profound, and they challenge many deeply held beliefs in modern secular society.
The Freedom Paradox is a bold and important work that goes to the heart of what it means to be human.
The past two centuries delivered individual and political freedoms that promised unprecedented opportunities for personal fulfilment. Yet citizens of affluent countries are encouraged to pursue lives of consumerism, endless choice and the pleasures of the body.
Clive Hamilton argues that the paradox of modern consumer life is that we are deprived of our inner freedom by our very pursuit of our own desires. He turns to metaphysics to find a source of transformation that lies beyond the cultural, political and social philosophies that form the bedrock of contemporary western thought.
His search takes him to an unexpected conclusion: that we cannot be truly free unless we commit ourselves to a moral life. The implications of this conclusion are profound, and they challenge many deeply held beliefs in modern secular society.
The Freedom Paradox is a bold and important work that goes to the heart of what it means to be human.
Author bio:
Clive Hamilton is one of Australia's leading thinkers, and author of the bestsellers Requiem for a Species, Affluenza and Growth Fetish.
Category:
Current Affairs & Politics
ISBN:
9781742375786
Awards:
Short-listed, ACT Book of the Year, 2009
Table Of Contents:
Acknowledgments
Preface
PART ONE Freedom reconsidered
1 The disappointment of liberalism
2 Rationale
3 Types of happiness
4 Freedom and happiness
5 Types of liberty
6 Inner freedom
7 Do we prefer what we choose?
8 Self-deception and akrasia
9 A digression on the ethic of consent
10 Exercising inner freedom
11 Subtle coercion
12 The decline of free will
13 From political philosophy to metaphysics
PART TWO Philosophical foundations
14 The need for metaphysics
15 Consciousness and the subject
16 Phenomenon and noumenon
17 The 'legislation for nature'
18 Scientific thinking
19 Knowing and being
20 Instances of non-sensible intuition
21 The noumenon and the Self
22 A digression on the existence of God
23 On death
PART THREE Towards a post-secular ethics
24 Modern moral anxiety
25 Moral relativism
26 Reconstructing a moral code
27 Rationalist ethics
28 Genuine philanthropy
29 The moral self
30 Emotions as judgments
31 Further thoughts
32 Avatars of virtue
33 Egoism and malice
34 Eternal justice
PART FOUR Moral judge or moral adviser?
35 Becoming good
36 The theory in practice
37 Suicide
38 Sex
39 Nature
PART FIVE Freedom rediscovered
40 The ground of inner freedom
41 Finding inner freedom
42 The individual and the collective
43 Aesthetics
44 Happiness reconsidered
45 The human condition
Notes
Index
Preface
PART ONE Freedom reconsidered
1 The disappointment of liberalism
2 Rationale
3 Types of happiness
4 Freedom and happiness
5 Types of liberty
6 Inner freedom
7 Do we prefer what we choose?
8 Self-deception and akrasia
9 A digression on the ethic of consent
10 Exercising inner freedom
11 Subtle coercion
12 The decline of free will
13 From political philosophy to metaphysics
PART TWO Philosophical foundations
14 The need for metaphysics
15 Consciousness and the subject
16 Phenomenon and noumenon
17 The 'legislation for nature'
18 Scientific thinking
19 Knowing and being
20 Instances of non-sensible intuition
21 The noumenon and the Self
22 A digression on the existence of God
23 On death
PART THREE Towards a post-secular ethics
24 Modern moral anxiety
25 Moral relativism
26 Reconstructing a moral code
27 Rationalist ethics
28 Genuine philanthropy
29 The moral self
30 Emotions as judgments
31 Further thoughts
32 Avatars of virtue
33 Egoism and malice
34 Eternal justice
PART FOUR Moral judge or moral adviser?
35 Becoming good
36 The theory in practice
37 Suicide
38 Sex
39 Nature
PART FIVE Freedom rediscovered
40 The ground of inner freedom
41 Finding inner freedom
42 The individual and the collective
43 Aesthetics
44 Happiness reconsidered
45 The human condition
Notes
Index
Publisher:
Allen & Unwin
Imprint:
Allen & Unwin
Pub Date:
February 2011
Page Extent:
408
Format:
Paperback - B format
Subject:
Social issues & processes
Australian Current Affairs & Politics titles
