How much freedom must we forgo to be free?
The Convoco! Edition is an annual book series that collects contributions from our thinkers on Convoco’s annual topics. The edition is published in both German and English.
HOW MUCH FREEDOM MUST WE FORGO TO BE FREE?
Series: Convoco! Edition
Edited by Corinne Michaela Flick
Contributors: Bazon Brock, TIm Crane, Gabriel Felbermayr, Clemens Fuest, Birke Häcker, Martha Jungwirth, Bruno Kahl, Stefan Koritoh, Jörn Leonhard, Rudolf Mellinghoff, Timo Meynhardt, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Philipp Pattberg, Herbert A. Reitsamer, Monika Schnitzer, Sven Simon, Claudia Wiesner, Peter Wittig, Hildegard Wortmann
Pages: 265
ISBN 978-1-9163673-4-0
Paperback: £11.99
Price EPUB: £4.99
Freedom is a fundamental good. But it can only be experienced in a context of meaning, and exists in a state of tension with other values. Freedom is not a natural given but rather results from the interplay of socialization and constraints. Rules and laws are needed to maintain freedom, to guarantee it permanently, and to shape it.
But what do challenges such as pandemics, climate change, digitalization, and the intensifying systemic competition with authoritarian states mean for our freedom? When can and should the state restrict freedom? Are we seeing a shift in the scale of values in favor of equality and justice at the expense of freedom? What responsibility do we bear for the freedom of future generations? One thing is certain: society’s understanding of the structure of relationships in which freedom is possible is changing.
Theses
In a world full of contradictions and conflicts, the internal freedom gained through self-reflection is more important than abstract declarations of freedom. The way to more external freedom is via greater internal freedom.
Timo Meynhardt
Representative democracy must combine freedom and equality in equal value and in relation to each other. The self-government of the democratic sovereign is based on these principles, which are implemented through institutions, processes, and rights. Freedom
and equality are not only mutually dependent, but also mutually restrictive.
Claudia Wiesner
In a country where a dangerous virus is rampant, the economy cannot flourish. That is why effective pandemic control is a prerequisite for positive economic development. There is no conflict between protecting health and protecting the economy.
Clemens Fuest
Freedom and security are by no means opposites that can be played off against one another—they are mutually dependent.
Bruno Kahl
Those who advance a choice between order or freedom destroy both and are not in any way establishing a higher law, whether nationalist or divine.
Bazon Brock
The principle of the tax state and tax limits based on basic rights characterize the financing of the state based on civil liberties. They form the foundations of a free, democratic constitutional state which, on the one hand, guarantees social security and freedom through state services and, at the same time, respects the free system of labor and capital as well as property remaining in the hands of private individuals.
Rudolf Mellinghoff
Personal mobility means freedom, self-determination, and independence. The task now is to make personal mobility sustainable. We need effective cooperation between politics, business, and society to develop solutions that give people the freedom to live sustainably and that contribute to a better life. If that succeeds, sustainability does not mean forgoing anything. Sustainability is the new premium.
Hildegard Wortmann
Competition forces companies to compete for their customers through affordable prices, good services, new ideas, and better products. Competition increases people’s economic freedom by increasing their choice.
Monika Schnitzer
In order to ensure the stability of the world trade system, the EU needs new defensive instruments. But it is important not to lose sight of the goal of open markets, otherwise the EU, together with its trading partners, may find itself in a zero-sum game in which economic freedoms are shrinking on all sides.
Gabriel Felbermayr
As the Oulipian writer Harry Mathews once told me, freedom can sometimes lie in constraints: by changing the rules of the game, one can find new freedom within these rules. To ask “How much freedom must we forgo to be free?” is therefore to ask how we can reconsider what we forgo not as a loss, but as an opportunity to create.
Hans Ulrich Obrist
I want to put something on canvas or on paper that is open-ended so that everyone who looks at it— including myself—can make something new from it. So nothing is fixed, nothing controlled.
Martha Jungwirth
In order to leave behind wasteful lifestyles and business cycles, fossil fuels, and a murderous food regime, we need to ensure a big integrative meta-narrative, international solidarity and focus on the silent, reasonable majority. Under these conditions, freedom and a stable climate are not a contradiction.
Philipp Pattberg
The new superpower rivalry between the US and China is Europe’s greatest challenge. China is becoming a litmus test of transatlantic relations as well. European equidistance between both superpowers is not an option. Instead, the EU needs a joint China agenda with the US that describes a differentiated relationship: China as a partner, a competitor, and (on certain issues) an adversary.
Peter Wittig
In order to defend the European model of freedom, Europeans must assume the power to act. This requires a paradigm shift from internal to global orientation, and, to legitimize this, we need a real competition of opinions at European level, a shared public sphere, and a focus on those issues where European cooperation brings concrete and visible added value.
Sven Simon
The findings of neuroscience and philosophy cannot question the laws of physics. Within the framework of natural laws and the enormous complexity of our brain, the scope and possibility for free decisions and ultimately free will can arise.
Herbert A. Reitsamer
One danger of restricting freedom of speech is that it can also restrict freedom of thought. A liberal state can of course legitimately prohibit certain forms of speech if they genuinely cause harm. But the state cannot and should not compel belief.
Tim Crane
Fundamental rights protect freedom, i.e. the ability of the individual to choose between different courses of action and to take responsibility for the consequences of their own decisions. There are two approaches to this: the aim of the classical approach is to leave the individual unchallenged in their own development. The new approach requires the state to create and protect the prerequisites for the exercise of freedom. The two approaches can be conflicting.
Stefan Korioth
Freedom in this century means increased recognition of the individual while at the same time being more considerate: freedom not as egotism, but as a combination of mutual appreciation and self-restraint through insight. It is important to take a long-term perspective.
Corinne Michaela Flick
A look back at the 19th century shows us not merely the range of various notions of freedom. Above all, it points out that the definition of freedom has always included polarity and being interwoven with other value concepts. The latter formed and still form the basis of how concepts of freedom develop, how they are challenged, adapted, and redefined.
Jörn Leonhard
The idea of “freedom” (or “liberty”) is a powerful and at the same time highly complex postulate. It is centered around the individual, yet always in a larger societal context. In order to understand how it is possible to be “free” by forgoing freedom, we must distinguish the “positive” and “negative” concepts of liberty and take a closer look at freedom’s individual and social dimensions.
Birke Häcker