Freedom and Resonance

Abstract

We, and the vast majority of people we deal with on a daily basis, live in societies that see and understand themselves as “liberal.” The phenomenon of liberty is at the core of our existence and our personal identity. There is no unanimity, however, regarding the matrix of this condition of freedom. Although the essay espouses a polysemous view of liberty, it aims at identifying better forms of freedom within the relevant constellation. “Resonant” freedom is the name which is given here to a possible architectonic variety of self-determination. It is not merely a “subtractive” kind of freedom, for it consists in the ability to respond to a call endowed with intrinsic value coming from a place outside the jurisdiction and expectations of the self. The responsive act is, on the one hand, receptive, but, on the other hand, it contributes to the unfolding and articulation of the personally relevant truth content to which it is a response. This element of exploration, reliance on otherness and uncertainty is also crucial in genuine resonant experiences triggered by the “chant” of the world (Rilke), which retain a transformative element exceeding our capacity for autonomy.