Freedom
I always keep before me the notion of the difference between "freedom for" and "freedom from". The former, in my heart, is more Pierce-ean than Nietzschean, but it has elements of both. The latter has little worth in my eyes, and in fact it seems to me more of an escape than a goal. "Freedom" (from), that is what Avoiding Responsibility calls itself.
"In the name of the former, and the latter, and the [will to free] ... all men." - Joyce
"In the name of the former, and the latter, and the [will to free] ... all men." - Joyce
posted by Thomas F. Schminke at 11:15 PM
2 Comments:
That's an important distinction indeed. Whereas "freedom from" is reactive, "freedom for" is proactive. I would say that Nietzsche is in favor of the latter over the former (as the former is a form of ressentiment). What is Pierce's take on "freedom for"?
Pierce (the pragmatist) spoke of truth as a "three place predicate" (or perhaps more). He would not like to judge the statement "the house is white" as either true or false. He would not think that was enough given information. He would want to know 'when?' and/or 'to whom?' ... he wouldn't like the idea of an objective true or false about such a statement. You always want another "for" statement .. 'for whom?'. The truth of any statement is true or false only within another framework, never objectively on its own.
Pierce did a lot of logic work none-the-less. He just wanted it to be known that he was speaking 'ceteris paribus' when he so did.
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