On Freedom
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4.6 • 9 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A brilliant exploration of freedom—what it is, how it’s been misunderstood, and why it’s our only chance for survival—by the acclaimed Yale historian and author of the #1 New York Times bestseller On Tyranny
“A rigorous and visionary argument . . . Buy or borrow this book, read it, take it to heart.”—The Guardian
Timothy Snyder has been called “the leading interpreter of our dark times.” As a historian, he has given us startling reinterpretations of political collapse and mass killing. As a public intellectual, he has turned that knowledge toward counsel and prediction, working against authoritarianism here and abroad. His book On Tyranny has inspired millions around the world to fight for freedom. Now, in this tour de force of political philosophy, he helps us see exactly what we’re fighting for.
Freedom is the great American commitment, but as Snyder argues, we have lost sight of what it means—and this is leading us into crisis. Too many of us look at freedom as the absence of state power: We think we're free if we can do and say as we please, and protect ourselves from government overreach. But true freedom isn’t so much freedom from as freedom to—the freedom to thrive, to take risks for futures we choose by working together. Freedom is the value that makes all other values possible.
On Freedom takes us on a thrilling intellectual journey. Drawing on the work of philosophers and political dissidents, conversations with contemporary thinkers, and his own experiences coming of age in a time of American exceptionalism, Snyder identifies the practices and attitudes—the habits of mind—that will allow us to design a government in which we and future generations can flourish. We come to appreciate the importance of traditions (championed by the right) but also the role of institutions (the purview of the left). Intimate yet ambitious, this book helps forge a new consensus rooted in a politics of abundance, generosity, and grace.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Yale historian Snyder follows up On Tyranny, his grim but heady look at the ways freedom can get chipped away, with a more soporific rumination on how freedom can be maintained. Snyder contends that in today's world freedom is wrongly conceived as a "freedom from" negative outcomes, rather than a "freedom to" make choices and flourish. The latter kind of "positive freedom," in Snyder's view, comprises an intriguing range of personal freedoms involving both political and bodily autonomy—from freedom of expression and freedom of speech to free healthcare and the right to eight hours of sleep per night. While this sounds lefty, Snyder sets himself up as arguing with the left, who he sees as having ill-advisedly abandoned the notion of freedom as too individualistic. Indeed, the purpose of the book's many forays into 20th-century history is partly to prove how important the idea of personal freedom has been to leftist triumphs like the defeat of Nazism and the American civil rights movement. Snyder makes many salient points, especially when he notes how fear-powered "negative freedom" leads to social atomization. But the all-encompassing scope of his argument ventures into too tidy territory . The many kernels of insight don't outweigh the cumbersomeness of some of the connections made here.
