Freedom in advanced industrial society can only be defined negatively as liberation from control.
Evidence
Thus economic freedom would mean freedom from the economy—from being controlled by economic forces and relationships; freedom from the daily struggle for existence, from earning a living. Political freedom would mean liberation of the individuals from politics over which they have no effective control. Similarly, intellectual freedom would mean the restoration of individual thought now absorbed by mass communication and indoctrination, abolition of “public opinion” together with its makers. The unrealistic sound of these propositions is indicative, not of their utopian character, but of the strength of the forces which prevent their realization. — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 112
Categorization
- DEFINE: Defines the negative method: freedom-from (economy, politics, public opinion) rather than any positive content.
- SEED: Essay angle: what would a negative definition of digital freedom (freedom from the feed) yield in the attention economy?
- XREF: connects to: Freedom must be conceived negatively as freedom from the economy — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the…, 112; Advanced industrial society suffocates any need that demands liberation from comfort — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the…, 120; Enlightenment liberal democracy defines freedom negatively as freedom from interference. — Rebecca A. Martusewicz, Jeff Edmundson, and John Lupinacci, EcoJustice Education: Toward Diverse,…, 358 (+1 more)
Broader Connections
- Advanced industrial society suffocates any need that demands liberation from comfort
#complicates(0.80) — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 120 - Freedom must be conceived negatively as freedom from the economy
#expands(0.75) — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 112 - Freedom has concrete content only when engaged in the world
#contradicts(0.75) - Enlightenment liberal democracy defines freedom negatively as freedom from interference.
#qualifies(0.70) — Rebecca A. Martusewicz, Jeff Edmundson, and John Lupinacci, EcoJustice Education, 358