Introduction

The concept of liberty was the beginning of a plethora of ideas all designed to
promote human rights. Concepts such as equality, the ethic of reciprocity, the right to
life and freedom of expression are all grounded in liberty. They are all merely
branches of the same tree.

For a long time liberty has been regarded as the enforcer of the rights of the
individual. But over time people have begun to wonder if the rights of the individual
are as important as the rights of society and if liberty is the actual cause of decadence.

This essay will examine the concept of liberty, the concept of decadence, the concept
of morality and a moral society, the theoretical aspects of causality and the
relationship between liberty and decadence in a causal context

Liberty

There is only one innate right, freedom (independence from being constrained by
another’s choice), insofar as it can coexist with the freedom of every other in
accordance with a universal law, is the only original right belonging to every man by
virtue of his humanity. - Immanuel Kant1

Since there is more than one type of liberty it is difficult to have a blanket definition
of liberty (e.g. Isaiah Berlin’s concept of “negative” and “positive” liberty)2. Also the
term can have many different interpretations therefore it may not suit this essay to
give a blanket definition of liberty. However for operational purposes this essay will
consider two concepts of liberty. The first and most customary concept of liberty is of
liberty being the absence of obstacles external to the individual. This means that you
are free if nothing is stopping you from doing what you want to do.

The second concept is that liberty is control on the part of the individual. You are free
if you can control your own destiny and your interests.

The first concept of liberty is the most widely held definition of liberty. It is the right
of every human being. It is the principle underlying modern democracy according to
John Stuart Mill (Mill 1859)3. Many societies in the world do not have this freedom
such as many societies ruled by dictatorship. The major themes often associated with
this concept of liberty are freedom of expression, the right to work, right to food, right
to education and equality in the eyes of the law. When the term “to liberate” someone
is used it usually means to grant them these right (e.g. the USA declared war on Iraq
to liberate its people).

This second concept poses a series of interesting questions. Are we all free? Or is
liberty a state of consciousness that we attain to?

1
Kant, I., & tr. by Gregor, M. J. (ed.). (1996) The Metaphysics of Morals. :Cambridge University Press
2
Berlin, I., 1969, ‘Two Concepts of Liberty’, in I. Berlin, Four Essays on Liberty, London: Oxford
University Press. New ed. in Berlin 2002
3
Mill, J.S. (1863) On Liberty. :Longman, Green, Reader & Dyer

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 There are many stages of liberty. liberty lies on continuum with the lower end being
the ability to make external choices. At the other end lies complete control and
freedom from the constraints of this world. Funnily enough, this is referred to in many
religions and languages as liberation (e.g. Moksha in Hinduism and Nirvana in
Buddhism). Both of the above concepts of liberty lie somewhere on this continuum.

Decadence
Decadence can be defined as corrosive moral decline in society. The fundamental
manifestation of decadence is lack of control over passion. In order to examine the
construct of decadence it is important to examine the construct of morality since
decadence can only be understood against the background of morality.

Morality and the Moral Society

"Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself." - Analects of
Confucius XV.24, tr. David Hinton

Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to
them: for this is the law and the prophets. - Matthew 7:12

Is a morality a fixed concept? Or does each person create their own morality? Given
the universality of moral constructs across cultures it appears that morality is based on
a number of values and behaviors rooted deep in our psyche and Jung’s “collective
unconscious”. Therefore in most societies destructive behaviors are seen as immoral.
Murder, rape, theft etc. are condemned in all religions and societies.

Morality has evolved over the ages as we have become more aware of ourselves and
the world around us. Our goals have shaped morality. Happiness has always been the
ultimate goal. Our ultimate goal has no basis in logic as the only meaning life has is
the one we choose to give it. The two primary goals of mankind are the pursuit of
awareness and the pursuit of happiness. These two goals are not mutually exclusive;
they are interrelated in a number of complex ways (Garcia 1971)4. Actions that
impose constraints upon another’s right to seek their own happiness and awareness
are deemed immoral. One of the key principles of morality is the Ethic of Reciprocity;
do unto others as you would have them do unto you. This has established the concepts
of fairness and equality.

The Moral society is the goal we work toward to build the perfect society. The
concept of society also differs from person to person. Does society mean a suburb,
community, city, state, country or the world? The only way to create the Moral
Society is for each of us to focus on our own decadence and to strive for perfection.
However the individual should not be neglected while searching for the Moral Society
because all of us as individuals make up the Moral Society. The Moral Society
celebrates diversity but understands that we are all but parts of the whole.

4
Garcia, J.D. (1971) The Moral Society: A Rational Alternative to Death. : Whitmore Pub and co.

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When we examine decadence in the context of morality and the Moral Society
decadence can be seen as the absence of the ethic reciprocity. It could manifest as the
indulgence of self at the cost of others such as indulgence in hedonistic pursuits.

Causality
1. Causality postulates that there are laws by which the occurrence of an entity B of
a certain class depends on the occurrence of an entity A of another class, where
the word entity means any physical object, phenomenon, situation, or event. A is
called the cause, B the effect."
2. "Antecedence postulates that the cause must be prior to, or at least simultaneous
with, the effect."

3. "Contiguity postulates that cause and effect must be in spatial contact or

connected by a chain of intermediate things in contact." (Born 1949)5

From this perspective on causation liberty must antecede decadence and that there
must be contiguity between liberty and decadence. For liberty to be the cause and
decadence the effect liberty must be a necessary and sufficient condition for
decadence.

Liberty and Decadence in a causal context

In a free society, government reflects the soul of its people. If people want change at
the top, they will have to live in different ways. Our major social problems are not the
cause of our decadence. They are a reflection of it. - Cal Thomas

Liberty is the condition of duty, the guardian of conscience. It grows as conscience

grows. The domains of both grow together. Liberty is safety from all hindrances, even
sin. So that Liberty ends by being Free Will. - John Acton

From the perspective of the first quote, where the conditions for liberty exist, what is
perceived as a social phenomenon (i.e. decadence), is really an expression of free will.
There would not be decadence in society if there was not decadence inside us as
individuals. Liberty allows us to express what is inside of us. In order to change as a
society we need to use the same liberty to bring forth the change in the desired
direction.

From this perspective liberty has no direct causal relationship with decadence
however liberty may be a necessary condition for the expression of decadence since
liberty is essential for expression of all human vice and virtues. It is important to
remember that expression does not imply causality. For example there may be a snake
in a dark room which is revealed by a light but that does not imply that the light
causes the snake to be.

5
Born, M. (1949) Natural Philosophy of Cause and Chance New York: Dover Publications

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 Secondly, even if liberty were a necessary condition for the expression of decadence
it is still not a sufficient condition. For decadence to express itself it has to exist in an
unexpressed form within the individual.

From the point of view of the second quotation liberty is a prerequisite to morality.
Moral actions require freedom of choice therefore liberty is morality. To be truly
moral we need to exercise our free will and make the right choices. Even if we make
an incorrect choice we then have the option of learning from that experience. Since
morality is antithetical to decadence liberty cannot be related to decadence in a causal
context. Liberty can only show what is inside of us.

Morality cannot be enforced. An example of this is the “Ludovico Technique” in “A

Clockwork Orange” which is a fictional film based on the novel of the same name by
Anthony Burgess6. The story revolves around Alex, a teenage thug whose hobbies
include rape, classical music and ultra violence. After being incarcerated he is put up
for the experimental Ludovico technique with its guarantee of release after 2 weeks.
The technique involves forcing an individual to watch videos of acts of violence and
other socially unacceptable behavior while being administered drugs that cause
extreme nausea. The idea is that after a while the patient will associate the acts of
violence with the negative stimulus and as such will not be able to commit or witness
acts that are deemed “immoral”. After going through the Ludovico technique Alex is
no longer able to commit acts of violence as severe nausea sets in immediately.
However is Alex actually “cured”? He is no longer acting out of his own free will but
he has stopped engaging in antisocial activities as he is no longer physically able to.
The side effect is that he is no longer able to defend himself against others when they
take revenge on him for his previous acts. His behavior is moral but it is not based on
free will. This behavior cannot be seen to stem from morality as morality is being
given the option to make choices. “Forced morality” is a violation of the human right
of the individual to live his own life the way he sees fit and suffer the consequences if
others are deliberately harmed in the process.

Finally a more modern and practical argument is that with complete liberty
decadence would be self-regulating. In a society where everyone is responsible for the
consequences of their own actions decadence would eventually die out. Take the
example of a nonworking drug user. Currently he can go to the government for
welfare payments but with complete liberty he would be forced to either change his
habit or starve to death. A grim idea but it further cements that liberty cannot cause
decadence.

Conclusion
Liberty is essential to our psychological growth. Liberty is simply the messenger that
brings out the best and worst in us. Unfortunately it is human nature to “shoot the
messenger” which is why liberty is so often blamed for decadence. Liberty reveals to
us our decadence so we can do something about it, not pretend it doesn’t exist and
believe falsely in an apparently moral society.

6
Burgess, A. (1996) A Clockwork Orange.: Buccaneer Books

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True liberty is an unquenchable flame, burning bright to show us the path to
enlightenment and our own pitfalls that may hinder us along the way.