From: Charles Hixson (charleshixsn@earthlink.net)
Date: Tue Oct 22 2002 - 10:37:14 MDT
Dehede011@aol.com wrote:
>In a message dated 10/22/2002 10:25:31 AM Central Standard Time,
>charleshixsn@earthlink.net writes: A capitalist society, as normally
>understood, is no more a free society than is a socialist society.
>
>Charles,
> Please define a free person.
>Ron h.
>
Ouch! I've been working on that for years, and don't have a good clue.
I know internally what it feels like (i.e., it feels non-coerced, it
feels like choices are possible, but not forced). I don't have many
examples of what it looks like, because it's a bit difficult to go up to
someone and say "Excuse me. Two minutes ago, when you did X, were you
acting at free choice amoung several possibilities, or did you feel that
only one choice was plausible?"
Still, as a first shot, and clearly understanding that it needs
refinement:
1) A person is free when that person is making a choice among several
perceived plausible choices, and also feels that not choosing would be a
valid choice.
2) There are degrees of freedom. It's not an either / or state. And
there are no infinities and no zeros.
3) If only one of the choices perceived as available is also perceived
as desireable, the amount of freedom present is minor.
4) If none of the choices presented as available are also perceived as
desireable, the person has less freedom than under condition 3.
5) If no difference in the desirability of the choices available is
discernable, but the choices are perceived as essentially different,
then the freedom approaches the maximum possible, and increases in
direct proportion to the number of perceived choices.
N.B.: While state 5 is maximally free, this does not equate with
maximally desireable. If you don't feel that your choice makes a
difference, or that there is no difference in the desireability between
the choices, you may be quite free, but you won't feel enpowered.
Unfortunately, all of these criteria appear to me to be based on
unobservables. Possibly one could, in principle, detect the differences
using PET or MRI, but with currently envisionable technologies, this
would always be in a state of restraint, and therefore the object of
investigation would be missing.
-- -- Charles Hixson Gnu software that is free, The best is yet to be.
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