National Book Award Non Fiction Winner
Freedom (Vol. 1)
by Orlando Patterson
Summary
A sweeping intellectual history that traces the Western concept of freedom from ancient Greece through early Christianity, arguing that the idea was forged in dialogue with the institution of slavery. Patterson, a sociologist, marshals classical, religious, and comparative sources to claim that personal liberty became central to Western thought precisely because so many lived in bondage. The thesis unsettled readers and reframed debates about liberty's origins.
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Historical Context & Significance
Patterson was a Harvard sociologist; his work was praised for its "disturbing" but brilliant thesis that our idea of freedom is historically parasitic on the idea of bondage.