Freedom as a personal achievement

Abstract

This essay is an enquiry into the significance of a phenomenon which I have called “Mystification”. A person is mystified when he has come to regard himself as something he is not; and in consequence, feeling that his actions must be fitting to this image of himself, he does not act in terms of what he wants, but rather in terms of what he thinks he wants. Therefore he is not free; for freedom consists in doing what one wants. It is helpful to think of a parable of the nineteenth century Hindu saint, Sri Ramakrishna. A tiger cub, whose mother had died in giving it birth, was adopted by a herd of goats, who suckled it with their own offspring. It learnt to make a bleating noise and to eat grass, and it grew up to be slim and meek on this diet. One day the herd of goats was attacked by a fierce old tiger, who was appalled at this abnormal specimen, and, seizing it by the scruff of the neck, carried it off to his lair. There he forced it to eat raw flesh. At first the young tiger was sickened; but when he tasted blood, he felt an unfamiliar gratification and reached eagerly for more. He felt elated and intoxicated, and then opened his mouth in a huge yawn, as if he awoken from a long sleep….