Combining Philosophers

Ideas for Galen, Yuval Noah Harari and G.A. Cohen

unexpand these ideas     |    start again     |     choose another area for these philosophers

display all the ideas for this combination of philosophers


4 ideas

25. Social Practice / A. Freedoms / 4. Free market
No market is free of political bias, and markets need protection of their freedoms [Harari]
     Full Idea: There is no such thing as a market free of all political bias, …and markets by themselves offer no protection against fraud, theft and violence.
     From: Yuval Noah Harari (Sapiens: brief history of humankind [2014], 16 'Cult')
     A reaction: Is this in theory, or in practice? In Sicily the free market has been a tool of the mafia.
25. Social Practice / A. Freedoms / 5. Freedom of lifestyle
Freedom may work against us, as individuals can choose to leave, and make fewer commitments [Harari]
     Full Idea: The freedom we value so highly may work against us. We can choose our spouses, friends and neighbours, but they can choose to leave us. With the individual wielding unprecedented power to decide her own path, we find it ever harder to make commitments.
     From: Yuval Noah Harari (Sapiens: brief history of humankind [2014], 19 'Counting')
     A reaction: This is the worry of the communitarian. I take freedom to be a great social virtue - but an overrated one.
The right-wing conception of freedom is based on the idea of self-ownership [Cohen,GA]
     Full Idea: The right-wing conception of freedom is, I think, founded on the idea that each person is the morally rightful owner of himself, even if existing legal systems do not acknowledge it. Let us call that the 'self-ownership' thesis.
     From: G.A. Cohen (Are Freedom and Equality Compatible? [1986], 1)
     A reaction: He cites Nozick as articulating this view. At the end Cohen rejects self-ownership, though he agrees that no one would accept that the state could be the owner of your eyes. Do I own my hair after it is cut?
Plenty of people have self-ownership, but still lack autonomy [Cohen,GA]
     Full Idea: Universal self-ownership fails to ensure autonomy, since it tends to produce proletarians, who lack it.
     From: G.A. Cohen (Are Freedom and Equality Compatible? [1986], 3)
     A reaction: The implication is that autonomy is not a property of individuals but a social phenomenon. Self-owning people can still be imprisoned. What about autonomy without self-ownership? A bright slave who is given extensive responsibility?