The Philosophy of Responsible Freedom
Free & Freeing, Online & Ongoing, Adventure in the Academy of Ideas
“It is good to rub and polish our brain against that of others.” Michel de Montaigne
THE PHILOSOPHY OF RESPONSIBLE FREEDOM
Online & Ongoing Tutorial on Zoom FREE & FREEING Adventure in the Academy of Ideas
Join 3 Contrarian Minds In The Tumbler Of Ideas Along With The Great Minds And The Grit Of Truth?
The Academy Of Ideas Videos Brought To Life For You By 3 Different Philosophers:
Jack in New Zealand—Saturdays 9pm, Sundays 9am New Zealand time
Martin in Thailand with Jack—Saturdays 9pm NZ time (3pm Thailand time)
John in America with Jack—Sundays 9am NZ time (Saturdays 12 noon California time)
Presenting 50 videos of the Academy of Ideas
http://www.academyofideas.com/
STARTS (New Zealand time):
1. December 13, Saturday, 9 PM—Jack and Martin for South Pacific and Asia
2. December 14, Sunday 9AM—Jack and John for North/South America and Europe/Africa
World Clock for various Cities/Countries https://tinyurl.com/bdef97z7
Time Converter to New Zealand time https://dateful.com/convert/new-zealand
MODERATED IN AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND (All Zoom Times in New Zealand Time)
Jack Carney is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/8245320024
Meeting ID: 824 532 0024
Passcode: 772388
Welcome to the Great Adventure in the History of Ideas, emphasizing the Ideas of Freedom and Responsibility for it.
“The aim of life can only be to increase the sum of freedom and responsibility to be found in every man in the world.” Albert Camus
“What is freedom? The will to be responsible for oneself.” Friedrich Nietzsche
“Liberty is the prevention of control by others, the guardian of conscience.” John Acton
“All truly wise thoughts have been thought already thousands of times; to make them truly ours, we must think them over again honestly, until they take root in our personal experience. There are many men who fancy they understand whatever they experience.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“A book is a mirror: if an ass peers into it, you cannot expect an apostle to look out. We have no words to speak of wisdom to the stupid. He who understands the wise is wise already. One’s first step in wisdom is to question everything--and one’s last is to come to terms with everything. “ George C Lichtenberg
“The highest activity a human being can attain is learning for understanding, because to understand is to be free.” Baruch Spinoza
JACK CARNEY:
Hi, this is Jack Carney, coming to you from New Zealand. Naturalist, Atheist, Voluntaryist, Autodidact, Jack of All (Free) Trades. See my Self-Actualization Coaching https://tinyurl.com/57zyc6t4
My conception of Responsible Freedom (as Self-Actualization):
To be Free means that you understand how your Mind from birth has been conditioned (programmed, indoctrinated, controlled) by Nature (Genes) and Nurture (Upbringing) to obey Authority—Something or Someone other than You. We are born to conform and obey the Authority of our Selfish Genes, Parents, Culture, Government, etc.—the totality of the Belief/Behavior Structures we inherit. To be Free is to discover and disable this default setting of Obedience to Authority; and then to reset it so as to become your own, ultimate Authority.
To be Responsible for your Freedom means you have recognized and acknowledged your innate and learned conditioning and made the effort to free your Mind as described above. You allow no one to control your Mind. You think your own thoughts rather than being thought by them. You regulate your emotions rather than being driven by them. You take responsibility for your freedom by honoring the Scientific Method, the Non-Aggression Principle, Reason, and your own experience. As your own Authority, you understand and obey only Reality and yourself:
“Nature to be commanded, must be obeyed.” Francis Bacon.
“As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
These four Au- words comprise the Gold (Au) Standard of the Responsibly Free Individual (etymological definitions):
Autonomy (Self Law Maker)
Authenticity (Self Doer/Being)
Authority (Master, Leader, Author)
Author (Originator, Creator, literally “One Who Causes to Grow”)
To Self-Actualize (“What Humans Must be they Can Be, this Drive I call Self-Actualization” Jack) is to do the above and become as fully as possible, Responsible for your Freedom. The degree to which you do this is the degree of your Self-Actualization. This is a never ending, forever ongoing task that must be committed to and consistently renewed. This Self-Directed Education to value Freedom and become Responsible for it is generally not taught anywhere and it does not come naturally. To help others discover and disable the default setting of Obedience to Authority is why I have created this Adventure of Ideas.
MARTIN HUEHNE:
This is Martin Huehne, from Bangkok, Thailand.
I am preliminarily retired after nearly 30 years of mostly analytical and managerial work in industry, university laboratories, public research institutes.
Martin’s perspective: Epicurus’ philosophy instead of religion or aggressive atheism.
Martin: Responsible Freedom: Each person learns to control oneself and pursues desires chosen with prudence, typically avoiding harm to oneself and others.
JOHN YOKELA:
I am an independent avocational philosopher focused on developing a more objective foundation for morality—one that is happiness-oriented and similar to Ayn Rand’s, but grounded in the biological teleology and semiotics of Terrence Deacon.
Recently retired from a career in software engineering, I hold a Master’s in Systems Management from USC and a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry.
A central finding of my research is the critical role of objective story development in meeting basic psychological needs. I believe the most fundamental step in achieving responsible freedom is validating and selecting your own moral ideal—a hero in a story you identify with. This ‘ideal self-story’ tunes your conscience, guiding you toward health and happiness rather than dysfunction.
I offer an alternative perspective to the narratives of our pathocratic mainstream culture. We must remain on guard against stories designed to make us voluntarily surrender our sovereign egos to political authority. My motto is: Rule yourself, or you will be ruled by others.
I am an atheist but not a materialist; I am a benevolent egoist. I recognize that life emerges from constraints on matter, consciousness is a form of life, and the ego is a symbolically mediated consciousness—and art is the technology for ego management.
Why the Great Books? I view the Great Books of the Western World as the symbols that dominantly animate our social environment. We study these books not to worship them as authority, but to interrogate them. They are the fossil record of human consciousness, containing both the viruses that plague our civilization and the antibodies we need to cure it.
TUTORIAL DESCRIPTION
THE PHILOSOPHY OF RESPONSIBLE FREEDOM—An Adventure in the Academy of Ideas
It is free, no charge; and hopefully, freeing. There is no commitment required. New Zealand Saturdays Jack and Martin, then NZ Sundays Jack and John, will be trading ideas and sharing our individual perspectives. Each session will last around one hour.
You will be recorded with the possibility of the video being published. You can have your video and audio on or not—you choose your degree of anonymity. You can leave the session whenever you want without notifying us. You can participate to whatever degree you wish including remaining silent and simply watching. You will be allowed to record each Zoom session which will appear on your device after the end to watch again.
We ask you to inform one of us, letting us know ahead of time if you plan to attend a session—although this is not necessary. You can just drop in unannounced if you want. We hope you will invite your family and friends to attend.
Email Jack at responsiblyfree@protonmail.com
Email Martin at mahuehne@yahoo.com
Email John at johnyokela@yahoo.com
ABOUT THE ACADEMY OF IDEAS https://tinyurl.com/5n9b66ff
The “Academy of Ideas” is a Canadian based (two brothers) freedom education service with some 200+ YouTube videos on all aspects of philosophy, featuring themes of individual autonomy and non-aggression opposed to collective conformity and coercion. Each video is 7 to 12 minutes long, and includes beautiful, classical paintings to illustrate the ideas presented as well as many focusing quotes from a variety of ancient to modern philosophers, especially those concerned with living the morally good life and not abstruse academic arguments. There are transcripts as well as copies of the paintings, so you can prepare ahead or explore more afterwards. Each video explores and explicates a set of ideas on a central topic or theme.
First of fifty videos is “The Benefits of Reading Great Books” (see video below)
From the transcript: “The theme is how the body, or canon, of cultural classics of both the East and the West including literature, music, philosophy, and works of art can serve us if our goal is to free our minds, especially from the dominance of institutions and the constant barrage of noise from the political system and mainstream corporate media. These quotes give the flavor of this first video, from the transcript: “Books are the best of things, well used; abused, among the worst. What is the right use? They are for nothing but to inspire.” Ralph Waldo Emerson “We need to learn not simply to read books but to allow ourselves to be read by them.” Mark Edmundson
From the two Brothers’ transcript with concluding quote: “And if we decide to be one of the few to make reading great books a priority what we are likely to discover is that as we become more fixated on the wisdom contained in them, the pull of technology and the white noise of culture around us, will lose its grip on our mind. For as Edmundson explains: ‘People who have taught themselves how to live—what to be, what to do—from reading great works will not be overly susceptible to the culture industry’s latest wares. They’ll be able to sample them, or turn completely away—they’ll have better things on their minds.’”
The final, fiftieth, video “How to Be Free in an Unfree World” (see video below)
From the transcript: “‘If such epics were the highest values of life — our peace, our independence, our basic rights, all that makes our existence more pure, more beautiful, all that justifies it — are sacrificed to the demon inhabiting a dozen fanatics and ideologues, all the problems of the man who fears for his humanity come down to the same question: how to remain free?’ Stefan Zweig, Montaigne
“Moral autonomy is life promoting under any conditions it is especially important at times of social upheaval and rapid change. If this crisis proves significant enough to fundamentally re-order the structure of our society many of us will soon discover that the ways of life that supported us up until now have become obsolete. Change or perish is the motto of a Brave New World, and unless we are willing to take responsibility for our own future, to act with autonomy and to cultivate the traits that autonomy necessitates, such as curiosity, self-directed learning, a willingness to take risks, and an openness to new experiences, then the only alternative is to place our life in the hands of another. Asserting our moral autonomy and doubling down on our psychological freedom has benefits that extends beyond the merely personal. For in choosing to retain our status as a free man or woman, and striving to behave in ways that reflect this, we become a force that pushes the world back in the direction of freedom.”
HOW THE TUTORIAL IS PRESENTED
Jack will oversee playing the videos, with English subtitles (for English-as-Second-Language learners) and Martin and John will comment as we go. Sometimes we play them once only, stopping to give our explanations and interpretations of ideas we find inspiring or to clarify words and ideas we think might be challenging to understand. We invite your responses—comments and questions—as we go, inviting each of you to share your questions or understandings of the ideas being discussed. Sometimes we play them twice: once all the way without stopping for comments; then a second time stopping for comments. We may also bring in articles, books, and other videos, to augment the Academy of Ideas scheduled video’s theme.
Our aim is to facilitate—make useful and enjoyable—your exploration of the ideas presented, adding our perspectives as we go that we hope will deepen your understanding. During and at the end of our seminars we will supply access to our added materials to increase your resources towards Responsible Freedom.
Jack has put the 50 videos below into a specific sequence that he believes will be progressively accumulative and synergetic, leading you at the end to understand what it means to Self-Actualize Responsible Freedom.
ABOUT ACADEMY OF IDEAS—Free Minds for a Free Society https://tinyurl.com/3ufks374
From their website: “The thirst for knowledge has consumed humanity since the dawn of civilization. However, until recently there have been numerous “gate-keepers” to the world of knowledge. Prior to the rise of the Internet most knowledge was conveyed to the populace through a centralized educational system, the state and the mass media. What this meant was that whomever controlled these institutions controlled the ideas that spread through a population. The advent of the Internet has initiated a revolution like no other. The Internet is smashing all barriers to knowledge by granting individuals across the globe free and easy access to the vast library of ideas built up by humanity. For the first time in history, we can seriously say that knowledge is free – the contemporary gatekeepers do not have the capacity to censor and control information on mass scale. At least, not yet.
The goal of this website is to further the spread of knowledge and freedom. We create content examining the ideas put forth by humanity’s greatest philosophers, psychologists, and economists. These individuals left us with a commodity more valuable than all others. Some people have said that money rules the world, some say politicians, some say weapons – they are all wrong. The truth is that ideas rule the world, they always have and always will. It is ideas that will, for better or worse, shape the destiny of mankind.
Academy of Ideas is the creation of two brothers from Canada. All of the content is produced by us. We are not supported by or affiliated with any organization or university. Our goal is to spread the message of individual liberty and empowerment to as many people as possible. Help us in our mission, and access our growing library of Membership videos (currently 55+ videos). Become a Supporting Member! We rely on the support of individuals like you. Learn more by following the link below.”
Become a Supporting Member of Academy of Ideas! https://tinyurl.com/3t6rrtbx
50 VIDEOS WE WILL ENCOUNTER, ENGAGE, EXPLORE, EXPERIENCE, EXPLICATE & EXPLAIN
1.The Benefits of Reading Great Books
https://academyofideas.com/2019/03/benefits-reading-great-books/
2.Suffering and the Meaning of Life
https://academyofideas.com/2012/11/suffering-and-the-meaning-of- life/
3.Ernest Becker and the Fear of Death
https://academyofideas.com/2013/09/ernest-becker-and-the-fear-of-death/
4.What is Religion
https://academyofideas.com/2012/09/what-is-religion/
5.Nietzsche and the Death of God
https://academyofideas.com/2012/11/nietzsche-and-the-death-of- god/
6.Introduction to Nihilism
https://academyofideas.com/2012/08/introduction-to-nihilism/
7.Overcoming Nihilism
https://academyofideas.com/2012/11/overcoming-nihilism/
8.Nietzsche and Morality--The Higher Man and The Herd
https://academyofideas.com/2017/01/nietzsche-and-morality/
9.Abraham Maslow and the Psychology of Self-Actualization
https://academyofideas.com/2018/05/abraham-maslow-psychology-of-self- actualization/
10.Life as a Quest
https://academyofideas.com/?s=Life+as+a+Quest+- +The+Antidote+to+a+Wasted+Existence
11.Philosophy as a Way of Life
https://academyofideas.com/2015/03/philosophy-as-a-way-of-life/
12.Diogenes the Cynic
https://academyofideas.com/2013/05/diogenes-the-cynic/
13.The Ideas of Socrates
https://academyofideas.com/2013/04/the-ideas-of-socrates/
14.Epicurus and Ethics
https://academyofideas.com/2013/03/epicurus-and-ethics/
15.Introduction to Stoicism & Stoicism vs. Epicureanism
https://academyofideas.com/2014/04/introduction-to-stoicism/
16.Ralph Waldo Emerson and The Psychology of Self-Reliance
https://academyofideas.com/2018/01/ralph-waldo-emerson-psychology-of-self-reliance/
17.Introduction to Existentialism
https://academyofideas.com/2012/11/introduction-to-existentialism/
18.Introduction to Ethics
https://academyofideas.com/2013/08/introduction-to-ethics/
19.Frans de Waal and Our Inner Ape
https://academyofideas.com/2017/08/frans-de-waal-inner-ape-evolutionary-origins- war-peace/
PW: innerape83
20.The Psychology of Conformity
https://academyofideas.com/2017/06/psychology-of-conformity/
21.The Psychology of Authenticity
https://academyofideas.com/2017/12/psychology-of-authenticity/
22.Why You Should Strive for a Meaningful Life, Not a Happy One
https://academyofideas.com/2019/01/strive-for-meaningful-life-not-a-happy-one/
23.Social Media and the Psychology of Loneliness
https://academyofideas.com/2018/08/social-media-psychology-of-loneliness/
24.Performing Therapy On Yourself--Self-Knowledge and Self-Realization
https://academyofideas.com/2018/09/performing-therapy-on-yourself/
25.Existential Psychotherapy--Death, Freedom, Isolation, Meaninglessness
https://academyofideas.com/2016/08/existential-psychotherapy-death-freedom- isolation-meaninglessness/
26.Collectivism and Individualism
https://academyofideas.com/2013/03/collectivism-and-individualism/
27.Fear and Social Control
https://academyofideas.com/?s=Fear+and+Social+Control
28.Machiavelli--The Rulers vs The Ruled
https://academyofideas.com/2019/08/machiavelli-the-rulers-vs-the-ruled- struggle-for-power/
29. The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind – Gustave Le Bon
https://academyofideas.com/2013/07/the-nature-of-crowds/
30.Eric Hoffer — The True Believer and The Nature of Mass Movements
https://academyofideas.com/2014/01/the-nature-of-mass-movements-2/
31.Edward Bernays and Group Psychology
https://academyofideas.com/2017/07/edward-bernays-group-psychology- manipulating-the-masses/
32.Introduction to Propaganda
33.What is Brainwashing?
34.Do We Live in a Sick Society
https://academyofideas.com/2020/06/do-we-live-in-a-sick-society/
35.Public Schools, the Fixation of Belief, and Social Control
https://academyofideas.com/2016/12/public-schools-fixation-of-belief-social-control/
36.Why Public Schools and the Mainstream Media Dumb Us Down
https://academyofideas.com/2019/03/public-schools-mainstream-media-dumb-us- down/
37.How We Enslave Ourselves
https://academyofideas.com/2018/03/how-we-enslave-ourselves/
38.The Psychology of Obedience and The Virtue of Disobedience
https://academyofideas.com/2017/03/psychology-of-obedience/
39.How the Greater Good is Used as a Tool of Social Control
https://academyofideas.com/2020/09/greater-good-tool-of-social-control/
40.George Orwell and 1984: How Freedom Dies
https://academyofideas.com/2017/12/george-orwell-1984-how-freedom-dies/
41.Aldous Huxley and Brave New World
https://academyofideas.com/2018/06/aldous-huxley-brave-new-world-dark-side-of-pleasure/
42.Democracy and the Road to Tyranny
https://academyofideas.com/2016/12/democracy-road-to-tyranny/
43.Spontaneous Order vs. Centralized Control
https://academyofideas.com/2016/03/spontaneous-order-vs-centralized-control/
44.Why We Can’t Vote Our Way to Freedom
https://academyofideas.com/2018/05/why-we-cant-vote-our-way-to-freedom/
45.The Individual vs. Tyranny
https://academyofideas.com/2017/01/the-individual-vs-tyranny/
46.How Civil Disobedience Safeguards Freedom and Prevents Tyranny
https://academyofideas.com/2020/12/how-civil-disobedience-safeguards- freedom-and-prevents-tyranny/
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47.The Psychology of Power – How to Dethrone Tyrants
https://academyofideas.com/2020/07/the-psychology-of-power-how-to-dethrone-tyrants/
48.Freedom vs. Force — The Individual and the State
https://academyofideas.com/2020/08/freedom-vs-force-the-individual-and-the- state/
49.How to Fortify the Mind in Times of Crisis
https://academyofideas.com/2020/03/how-to-fortify-the-mind-in-times-of-crisis/
50.How to Be Free in an Unfree World
https://academyofideas.com/2020/04/how-to-be-free-in-an-unfree-world/
YOUR TWO PRESENTERS ONLINE WORK
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Greenville to Santiago: Why I Left the United States for Chile Should You Do It Too? http://thestatelessman.com/2013/04/01/chile/
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JACK CARNEY EMAIL responsiblyfree@protonmail.com
Websites
1.Responsibly Free School for Self-Directed Learners, Home-Un-Schoolers
2.Pairing Today for Committed Consummate Relationships
3.Parent Effectiveness Training for Peaceful Parenting www.parenteffectivenesstrainingnewzealand.com
4.Resource For Your Source for Self-Actualization and Everything Voluntary
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Partners for Life--Once Half, Now Whole
This is a recording of several TV appearances on the show, Women with Vision, in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, in 1997, when I, Jack, had a Male/Female Singles Introduction Agency, Partners for Life. This is Part 1 of 2. I discuss the challenges of intimate relationships for single men and women. I think it has some useful things to say in 2016. Check out my Relationships Education website: https://www.pairingtoday.com/ that contains much free educational materials including complete books you can download. This quote from the German poet, Rainer Marie Rilke beautifully expresses my approach to male/female intimate relationships: "For one human being to love another; that is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks, the ultimate, the last test and proof, the work for which all other work is but preparation." Good Pairing for both Singles and Couples!