Sublime

Ce qui est en jeu ici, c’est le rejet de tous les arguments d’autorité par le libre exercice de l’esprit critique, c’est-à-dire le refus de se soumettre sans examen aux « idées reçues » de l’extérieur, et cela au nom d’une exigence fondamentale : penser par soi-même.

E quero aceitar minha liberdade sem pensar o que muitos acham: que existir é coisa de doido, caso de loucura. Porque parece. Existir não é lógico.

“You need to do some independent thinking, especially about the important things, and try to work them out for yourself. Check the evidence. Check the basis of conventional beliefs.”

Your opinions, thoughts, and actions are yours to choose, and no one and nothing can influence them without your consent.

In much the same way that the average middle class individual today is freer than John D. Rockefeller was a century ago, a self-described middle-of-the-road entrepreneur is freer to actually do Philosophy than a tenured Philosophy professor and create a bigger impact in the process.

We cannot search for the truth and for the way out of suffering without the freedom to think, investigate, and experiment. For that reason secular people cherish freedom, and refrain from investing supreme authority in any text, institution, or leader as the ultimate judge of what’s true and what’s right. Humans should always retain the freedom to

Technology and increased prosperity make this the best time in our history for our own “experiments in living.” Yet Mill, who was frustrated in his time with how many people seemed “satisfied with the ways of mankind as they now are,” might be surprised at how much shame is still associated with taking a different path.