On Freedom

This is a very detailed book and probably not for the faint of heart or for those who don't read at a middle school level or higher. It is for anyone who is a patriot, loves the USA, and wants to understand the history behind our freedom and how we can work to make the USA a much better place than it has been in the past. Timothy Snyder's other books are a good read for you as well, no matter what your political beliefs may be. It is realistic, not political.

I really enjoyed reading this book to learn and reset my mind about the positive aspects of freedom and how we often misinterpret freedom, especially in the U.S, focusing on the negative aspects of freedom. An important book to read right now, as with all of Timothy Snyder’s books, to truly learn how to live and strive for a democratic nation that should be built on positive, not negative freedom. What’s the difference between positive and negative freedom? Read this book to find out.

I must say that I savored every thought and word of this book. But, for me, the most revealing standout sections were the preface and the acknowledgments at the beginning and end. The preface jumps right into the deep end with an analysis of the five aspects of positive freedom: sovereignty, unpredictability, mobility, facticity, and solidarity. These core values inform the primacy of freedom as the value of values, which also mirror the stages of human individual growth. The body of the work is then organized along these principles, contrasting these positive attributes with negative freedom, the absence of restrains. Human nature, like nature, in general, abhors a vacuum. Getting rid of restraint does not “automatically” render a good life. Tyranny, banality, and cyber algorithms rush into the vacuum to confuse people’s thinking. The goal of a good society is to promote values that foster positive freedom, a sense of purpose in living, that comes from within. The acknowledgements at the end, fill in the details of how a philosophical treatise was transformed into a powerful tale of moral vignettes that illustrate these principles in unforgettable ways. These stories vividly portray heroic lives of people who find the courage to shrug off tyranny and thought control (even in prisons in America). So many great and caring minds lent their time and effort into polishing this work into its final form.

Good but print could be bigger for elderly!

From the author of On Tyranny, a great short book written in a simple language. On Freedom offers the alternative answer to tyranny. I recommend any book by Timothy Snyder. He has tremendous knowledge, but is able to express it in every day language. He also has a podcast.

Excellent, informative, easy-to-read.

It's a hard time for Freedom that isn't some sort of odd parody of itself. Snyder has been thinking about this, has traveled to places where danger makes the battle to be free very real with real stakes, and has quite evocative writing in sections of this book. The battle of artists, intellectuals, citizens, and politicians against the monolithic states of the East, and now, against the expansionist regime in Russia is explored as a philosophical and personal saga. I think, before reading this, I didn't understand just how brave that principled stand--and the nuances of it--really was.

Nearly everyone agrees that freedom is essential. But what exactly is it? How do we promote it? Yale professor Timothy Snyder has thought about these questions more than anyone else I’ve read in years. Well known for his work on the opposite of freedom, like his 2017 book On Tyranny, Snyder has been to many of the places wrecked by tyrants like Hitler and Stalin. I began reading his work Bloodlands about eastern Europe and had to put it down: simply too horrible. Snyder tackles the notion that freedom is the absence of oppression head on. No, he powerfully argues: freedom is something positive, not merely the lack of tyranny. Snyder backs up this claim at length throughout the book, illustrating five ingredients of freedom, why they matter, and how we can develop them in society. Freedom is based on virtues which we are called to live up to and bring to life. On Freedom takes a refreshing, sobering, clear-eyed stance on what is wrong in our world today. Snyder names names, calling out political and social media leaders. But he goes beyond diagnosing the problems to articulate thoughtful and sometimes original solutions. This is not an easy book. But I found it well worth the time. For anyone concerned about where things are going in the world today, this book will provide both answers and hope. They are not easy answers, but they are realistic and doable.

Professor Timothy Snyder has great insight on what is going on in the U.S.A., and he tells it like it is. I highly recommend this book to everyone who is concerned about the current state of affairs with the present U.S. federal government. I also urge anyone who is a MAGA supporter, to read this and his book entitled "On Tyranny". I hope to one day meet Professor Snyder in person and have a like minded conversation about not only the book, but what is going on in the U.S.

Very good to read. Only started yesterday

Much as his earlier book on tyranny, this new one appears at a critical moment for America and the rest of the world. Timothy Snyder undertakes an in-depth research into what it means to be free and what it takes to remain free by defending this freedom..

Lo farei adottare nelle nostre scuole come testo di educazione alla cittadinanza.

Wie andere Rezensenten bereits angemerkt haben, ist On Freedom deutlich persönlicher geraten als viele von Syners früheren Werken. Da wäre etwas weniger manchmal mehr gewesen. Aber das ist nur eine kleine Schwäche, die am positiven Gesamtbild nichts ändert. Gleiches gilt für den starken Amerika-Fokus, da praktisch alle diagnostizierten amerikanischen Krankheiten auch hierzulande in mehr oder weniger abgeschwächter Form schon zu beobachten sind und Linderung kaum in Sicht ist. Snyders Argumente für einen positiven Freiheitsbegriff und seine fünf Formen der Freiheit sind ganz wichtige Gedankenanstöße in einer Zeit, wo das Konzept "Freiheit" von Autokraten, Vulgärliberalen und anderen unangenehmen Zeitgenossen immer weiter verdreht wird, um Unterdrückung, Ungleichheit und Ungerechtigkeit zu verdecken. Daher meinerseits eine uneingeschränkte Leseempfehlung verbunden mit der Hoffnung, dass diese Konzepte und Gedanken weit verbreitete Beachtung finden, damit unsere westlichen Gesellschaften sich wieder in eine bessere Richtung bewegen.