If we look more closely, Wittgenstein’s entire philosophical oeuvre, and especially his later work, is run through with metaphors and allegories of liberation, of exits and escapes.
And what Plutarch taught them is this: Heroes care. True heroism, as the ancients understood, isn’t about strength, or boldness, or even courage. It’s about compassion.
The historical imagination is central to history, but not in quite the same way as it is to knowledge in general. What is imagined need not be wholly fanciful. It may be something as hard-nosed as pondering the cause of my car engine failing.
Claustrophobia conveys bad feelings about the environment and demands that the conscious mind come up with a solution. The conscious mind can override the sensation until the sensory system decides to make itself unbearable. It becomes a conversation between consciousness and sensory-ness. And this is an insight into comfort and homeostasis.
Liberty has become license, and the social basis of the modern, liberal state has eroded away.
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