Timothy Snyder pleads the cause of freedom in danger

His previous essay, “The road to servitude” (Gallimard, 2023), placed democracies facing a twilight horizon. He pleads a cause which would be the only way for them to turn away from it: “Freedom”. American historian, professor at Yale University and author of major works on the mass killings in Central and Eastern Europe, Timothy Snyder (born in 1969) proves that the United States still has the means to think about this crucial question of freedom with a certain height of view. Written before Donald Trump’s re-election, this rich book has gained relevance since it took place.

A cardinal idea guides this reflection: freedom can only be conceived in a negative mode; it must be articulated with positive values ​​implying an element of ideal. In other words, it is not enough to abolish constraints or obstacles to become freer; sticking to this idea of ​​“negative freedom” would be the eternal temptation of our common sense and of many politicians. “Freedom is not just the absence of evil,” writes Timothy Snyder, “it is also the presence of good.” The entire effort of his book therefore consists of defining the base of values ​​giving meaning to the cause of freedom. This is the subject of its five chapters: “Sovereignty”, “Unpredictability”, “Mobility”, “Factuality” and “Solidarity”.

Having put on the habit of the philosopher, drawing inspiration in particular from the writings of Edith Stein and Simone Weil (not to be confused with Simone Veil), the historian Timothy Snyder convinces less by his conceptual framework than by his way of always bringing back reflection on earth. “On Liberty” is an essay embodied in our time, but also in the life of its author. Throughout the pages, he talks in particular about his childhood in Ohio, his travels to Ukraine, his meetings with Volodymyr Zelensky, the seminar on freedom that he gave in a high-security American prison, and even the wonderful music by Frank Zappa.

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