This Life: Secular Faith and Spiritual Freedom by Martin Hägglund

Author:Martin Hägglund [Hägglund, Martin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Philosophy, Spirituality, Religion, Non-Fiction, Socialism, Politics, Metaphysics
ISBN: 9781101870402
Google: NLqHDwAAQBAJ
Amazon: 1101870400
Goodreads: 35969561
Publisher: Pantheon
Published: 2019-03-05T00:00:00+00:00

II

My argument that finite lifetime is the originary measure of value provides the key to Marx’s thinking. The key unlocks his understanding of necessity and freedom, his revaluation of the notion of value at the heart of capitalism, and his critique of religion.

The finitude of our lifetime, I argue, opens both the realm of necessity and the realm of freedom. It is because we are finite and self-maintaining that we live in a realm of necessity but also have the chance to lead a free life.

My distinction between the realm of necessity and the realm of freedom hinges on two different relations to the time that is required for an activity. Let me take a simple example. I have to drink water to stay alive. If I am required to walk two hours per day to acquire water from a distant well, my activity is in the realm of necessity, since the time I spend walking to the well is not valuable in itself but merely a means for the end of sustaining my life. If I could reduce the necessary labor time by having running water in my house, I would do so. Inversely, if I enjoy walking two hours per day as an intrinsic part of a fulfilling life, my activity is in the realm of freedom, since the time I spend walking is valuable for its own sake. The activity of walking is not merely a means for getting exercise or acquiring water but an end in itself for me, so even if I could reduce the time I spend walking I would not do so.

What here holds for walking is true of any intentional activity. The activity in question can belong either to the realm of necessity or the realm of freedom, depending on the purposive structure of my activity. If my activity essentially belongs to the purpose of what I am doing—e.g., if I am walking for the sake of being a hiker—my activity is in the realm of freedom, since the time I devote to the activity is valuable in itself. Whereas if my activity does not essentially serve the purpose of what I am doing—e.g., if my walking is an effort to secure the water I need but would prefer to acquire by more efficient means—my activity is in the realm of necessity, since the time I devote to the activity is not valuable in itself.

How we distinguish between the realm of necessity and the realm of freedom is never settled once and for all, but we have to make the distinction for there to be a question of freedom in our lives. If I treated all my activities merely as means—if nothing I did counted as valuable in itself for me—I could not lead a life, since my life would have no purpose internal to its own activities. Inversely, if I treated everything I do as valuable in itself, I could not lead a life either, since whatever I do would

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