The virtue of obedience is seen as outdated today, if not downright toxic - and yet, are we any freer than our forebears?
In this provocative work, Jacob Phillips argues not. Many feel unable to speak freely, their opinions policed by the implicit or explicit threat of coercion. Impending ecological disaster is the ultimate threat to our freedoms and wellbeing, and living in a disenchanted cosmos leaves people enslaved to nihilistic whim. Phillips shows that the antiquated notion of obedience to the moral law contains forgotten dimensions, which can be a source of freedom from these contemporary fetters. These dimensions of obedience - such as loyalty, discipline and order - protect people from falling prey to the subtle forms of coercion, control and domination of twenty-first-century life.
Fusing literary insight with philosophical discussion and cultural critique, Phillips demonstrates that in obedience lies the path to true freedom.
- ISBN10 150954934X
- ISBN13 9781509549344
- Publish Date 19 May 2022 (first published 21 April 2022)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Polity Press
- Format Paperback
- Pages 200
- Language English