PHILLIP PETTIT or NEW WAYS OF THINKING FREEDOM

ENJOY PHILOSOPHY MEETS WEEKLY EVERY SUNDAY BETWEEN 11.30 AND 14.30 AT EDUARDO VII PARK, HERE:** https://goo.gl/maps/5e3jKFEweXkNvDdK6

ITS THE GARDEN BETWEEN THE “CARLOS LOPES PAVILLION” AND THE “PRAIA NO PARQUE” RESTAURANT AT EDUARDO VII PARK.

THIS IS A GROUP FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN ENJOYING PHILOSOPHY.

NO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE IS REQUIRED.

ONLY ETERNAL CURIOSITY AND THE PLEASURE OF KNOWLEDGE.

PLS KEEP UPDATED of any changes and updates on our WhatsApp Group:
Enjoy Philosophy Lisbon Group Access-Link

We will learn, debate, enjoy and investigate philosophers and diverse themes from the philosophical perspective. Each reunion is structured as a conversation among all attendees about that day s philosopher softly moderated by the organizer. The conversation will kick-off from the very brief suggested reading providing easy access to all attendees both to the philosopher and the conversation.

Let´s be greek and dive today on…

PHILLIP PETTIT (1945), the irish political theorist standing as one of the most relevant voices in contemporary political philosophy, diving into a very intense exploration into the nature of freedom. His work shows how under such an apparently universal ideal lies a diversity of possible conceptions, and therefore, a diversity of ways to translate them into specific laws, policies, etc... What is exactly what we politically mean when we conceive freedom? What is the extent of our choices in western democracies? What does our freedom entitles us to ?

In an (un)covered dialogue with Isaiah Berlin´s classic conception of freedom as non-interference (being "left alone", in simple words), of major acceptance in liberal societies, Pettit defines freedom as non-domination: a person is free not simply when nobody is actively interfering with them, but when nobody holds arbitrary power over them.

For Pettit, being deeply, essentially free, means that nobody is in a position to control you at will. Therefore, any kind of uncontrolled excessive dependence prevents it: uncontrolled workers dependence on employers, women in patriarchal households, citizens under abusive states, marginalized groups vulnerable to police, or social and economic dependences more broadly

So for Pettit, freedom is a social and political condition.
Not just being "left alone".

Many citizens, Pettit claims, specially those under vulnerable situations, are not free in spite of being "left alone".

Because freedom means being in a condition where you are not potentially subject of any domination.

Only then, there, you are free,

Let´s think about freedom with Phillip...