The Fourth Wall of Freedom

Independence Day and Our Inter-Dependent Nature

It’s the day after the Fourth of July—Independence Day—in the U.S. 

Something feels ironic and subversive about this post given that Americans just celebrated “independence” and one of the core themes of this newsletter is “interdependence”—the idea that we can understand ourselves better not as individuals but as inter-dividuals (this term is explained in great detail by Jean-Michel Oughourlian in this excellent book.) 

So, in honor of the Fourth of July, I’m going to explore the common and often misunderstood word “freedom” today, and I’ll do it in a somewhat Girardian context. 

(I want to also use this as an opportunity to thank the massive international readership this newsletter has found, which came as a total surprise to me—but shouldn’t have, given the universality of mimetic desire.)

Freedom as a Metaphysical Concept

“No passion rules modern society like the passion for freedom,” writes the Girard scholar Stephen L. Gardner. Freedom is a myth of modernity, he argues, and it’s not …