Does Liberty Lead To Decadence?

Introduction The concept of liberty was the beginning of a plethora of ideas all designed to promote human rights. Concepts such as equality, the ethic of reciprocity, the right to life and freedom of expression are all grounded in liberty. They are all merely branches of the same tree. For a long time liberty has been regarded as the enforcer of the rights of the individual. But over time people have begun to wonder if the rights of the individual are as important as the rights of society and if liberty is the actual cause of decadence. This essay will examine the concept of liberty, the concept of decadence, the concept of morality and a moral society, the theoretical aspects of causality and the relationship between liberty and decadence in a causal context

Liberty There is only one innate right, freedom (independence from being constrained by another’s choice), insofar as it can coexist with the freedom of every other in accordance with a universal law, is the only original right belonging to every man by virtue of his humanity. - Immanuel Kant1 Since there is more than one type of liberty it is difficult to have a blanket definition of liberty (e.g. Isaiah Berlin’s concept of “negative” and “positive” liberty)2. Also the term can have many different interpretations therefore it may not suit this essay to give a blanket definition of liberty. However for operational purposes this essay will consider two concepts of liberty. The first and most customary concept of liberty is of liberty being the absence of obstacles external to the individual. This means that you are free if nothing is stopping you from doing what you want to do. The second concept is that liberty is control on the part of the individual. You are free if you can control your own destiny and your interests. The first concept of liberty is the most widely held definition of liberty. It is the right of every human being. It is the principle underlying modern democracy according to John Stuart Mill (Mill 1859)3. Many societies in the world do not have this freedom such as many societies ruled by dictatorship. The major themes often associated with this concept of liberty are freedom of expression, the right to work, right to food, right to education and equality in the eyes of the law. When the term “to liberate” someone is used it usually means to grant them these right (e.g. the USA declared war on Iraq to liberate its people). This second concept poses a series of interesting questions. Are we all free? Or is liberty a state of consciousness that we attain to?

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Kant, I., & tr. by Gregor, M. J. (ed.). (1996) The Metaphysics of Morals. :Cambridge University Press Berlin, I., 1969, ‘Two Concepts of Liberty’, in I. Berlin, Four Essays on Liberty, London: Oxford University Press. New ed. in Berlin 2002 3 Mill, J.S. (1863) On Liberty. :Longman, Green, Reader & Dyer 2

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There are many stages of liberty. liberty lies on continuum with the lower end being the ability to make external choices. At the other end lies complete control and freedom from the constraints of this world. Funnily enough, this is referred to in many religions and languages as liberation (e.g. Moksha in Hinduism and Nirvana in Buddhism). Both of the above concepts of liberty lie somewhere on this continuum.

Decadence Decadence can be defined as corrosive moral decline in society. The fundamental manifestation of decadence is lack of control over passion. In order to examine the construct of decadence it is important to examine the construct of morality since decadence can only be understood against the background of morality.

Morality and the Moral Society "Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself." - Analects of Confucius XV.24, tr. David Hinton Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. - Matthew 7:12 Is a morality a fixed concept? Or does each person create their own morality? Given the universality of moral constructs across cultures it appears that morality is based on a number of values and behaviors rooted deep in our psyche and Jung’s “collective unconscious”. Therefore in most societies destructive behaviors are seen as immoral. Murder, rape, theft etc. are condemned in all religions and societies. Morality has evolved over the ages as we have become more aware of ourselves and the world around us. Our goals have shaped morality. Happiness has always been the ultimate goal. Our ultimate goal has no basis in logic as the only meaning life has is the one we choose to give it. The two primary goals of mankind are the pursuit of awareness and the pursuit of happiness. These two goals are not mutually exclusive; they are interrelated in a number of complex ways (Garcia 1971)4. Actions that impose constraints upon another’s right to seek their own happiness and awareness are deemed immoral. One of the key principles of morality is the Ethic of Reciprocity; do unto others as you would have them do unto you. This has established the concepts of fairness and equality. The Moral society is the goal we work toward to build the perfect society. The concept of society also differs from person to person. Does society mean a suburb, community, city, state, country or the world? The only way to create the Moral Society is for each of us to focus on our own decadence and to strive for perfection. However the individual should not be neglected while searching for the Moral Society because all of us as individuals make up the Moral Society. The Moral Society celebrates diversity but understands that we are all but parts of the whole.

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Garcia, J.D. (1971) The Moral Society: A Rational Alternative to Death. : Whitmore Pub and co.

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When we examine decadence in the context of morality and the Moral Society decadence can be seen as the absence of the ethic reciprocity. It could manifest as the indulgence of self at the cost of others such as indulgence in hedonistic pursuits.

Causality 1. Causality postulates that there are laws by which the occurrence of an entity B of a certain class depends on the occurrence of an entity A of another class, where the word entity means any physical object, phenomenon, situation, or event. A is called the cause, B the effect." 2. "Antecedence postulates that the cause must be prior to, or at least simultaneous with, the effect." 3. "Contiguity postulates that cause and effect must be in spatial contact or connected by a chain of intermediate things in contact." (Born 1949)5 From this perspective on causation liberty must antecede decadence and that there must be contiguity between liberty and decadence. For liberty to be the cause and decadence the effect liberty must be a necessary and sufficient condition for decadence.

Liberty and Decadence in a causal context In a free society, government reflects the soul of its people. If people want change at the top, they will have to live in different ways. Our major social problems are not the cause of our decadence. They are a reflection of it. - Cal Thomas Liberty is the condition of duty, the guardian of conscience. It grows as conscience grows. The domains of both grow together. Liberty is safety from all hindrances, even sin. So that Liberty ends by being Free Will. - John Acton From the perspective of the first quote, where the conditions for liberty exist, what is perceived as a social phenomenon (i.e. decadence), is really an expression of free will. There would not be decadence in society if there was not decadence inside us as individuals. Liberty allows us to express what is inside of us. In order to change as a society we need to use the same liberty to bring forth the change in the desired direction. From this perspective liberty has no direct causal relationship with decadence however liberty may be a necessary condition for the expression of decadence since liberty is essential for expression of all human vice and virtues. It is important to remember that expression does not imply causality. For example there may be a snake in a dark room which is revealed by a light but that does not imply that the light causes the snake to be.

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Born, M. (1949) Natural Philosophy of Cause and Chance New York: Dover Publications

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Secondly, even if liberty were a necessary condition for the expression of decadence it is still not a sufficient condition. For decadence to express itself it has to exist in an unexpressed form within the individual. From the point of view of the second quotation liberty is a prerequisite to morality. Moral actions require freedom of choice therefore liberty is morality. To be truly moral we need to exercise our free will and make the right choices. Even if we make an incorrect choice we then have the option of learning from that experience. Since morality is antithetical to decadence liberty cannot be related to decadence in a causal context. Liberty can only show what is inside of us. Morality cannot be enforced. An example of this is the “Ludovico Technique” in “A Clockwork Orange” which is a fictional film based on the novel of the same name by Anthony Burgess6. The story revolves around Alex, a teenage thug whose hobbies include rape, classical music and ultra violence. After being incarcerated he is put up for the experimental Ludovico technique with its guarantee of release after 2 weeks. The technique involves forcing an individual to watch videos of acts of violence and other socially unacceptable behavior while being administered drugs that cause extreme nausea. The idea is that after a while the patient will associate the acts of violence with the negative stimulus and as such will not be able to commit or witness acts that are deemed “immoral”. After going through the Ludovico technique Alex is no longer able to commit acts of violence as severe nausea sets in immediately. However is Alex actually “cured”? He is no longer acting out of his own free will but he has stopped engaging in antisocial activities as he is no longer physically able to. The side effect is that he is no longer able to defend himself against others when they take revenge on him for his previous acts. His behavior is moral but it is not based on free will. This behavior cannot be seen to stem from morality as morality is being given the option to make choices. “Forced morality” is a violation of the human right of the individual to live his own life the way he sees fit and suffer the consequences if others are deliberately harmed in the process. Finally a more modern and practical argument is that with complete liberty decadence would be self-regulating. In a society where everyone is responsible for the consequences of their own actions decadence would eventually die out. Take the example of a nonworking drug user. Currently he can go to the government for welfare payments but with complete liberty he would be forced to either change his habit or starve to death. A grim idea but it further cements that liberty cannot cause decadence.

Conclusion Liberty is essential to our psychological growth. Liberty is simply the messenger that brings out the best and worst in us. Unfortunately it is human nature to “shoot the messenger” which is why liberty is so often blamed for decadence. Liberty reveals to us our decadence so we can do something about it, not pretend it doesn’t exist and believe falsely in an apparently moral society.

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Burgess, A. (1996) A Clockwork Orange.: Buccaneer Books

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True liberty is an unquenchable flame, burning bright to show us the path to enlightenment and our own pitfalls that may hinder us along the way.

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