Hägglund’s main aim to clarify the conditions of spiritual freedom.
1. [Pages 52-54] List those features that Hägglund shares with a seagull in virtue of which
both are natural beings.
a. There is something always at stake in both their activities.
b. Both are capable of self-movement and self-determination.
c. Both are responsive to a distinction between appearance and essence between
how they take things and what they will turn out to be.
2. [Pages 54-55] List those features that Hägglund does not share with a seagull in virtue of
which Hägglund is a spiritual being.
a. Humans act on normative understanding of themselves: Who we should be and
what we should do. However, humans can also challenge and change our selfunderstanding.
b. We are not governed by norms but answerable to one another for what we do
and why we do it.
3. [Pages 55-6] What is the difference between natural and spiritual freedom? [Note: this
is a challenging question, that runs throughout the article).
a. Natural freedom provides a freedom of self-movement, but only considering
imperatives that are treated as given ends that cannot be called into question by
the agent itself.
b. Spiritual freedom is the ability to call into question, challenge and transform our
ends themselves.
c. In engaging the question ‘‘What should I do?’’ we are also engaging the question
‘‘Who should I be?’’ – and there is no final answer to that question. This is our
spiritual freedom.
d. The difference between natural and spiritual freedom is not a matter of
metaphysical substance but a difference in the practical self-relation
exhibited by human beings and other animals.
The distinction between natural and spiritual freedom is not a hierarchical distinction. Just
because we humans are spiritually free does not make us better than any other animal.
Second, the distinction between natural and spiritual freedom does not legitimize the
exploitation of other animals.
4. [Pages 56-58] Why does Hägglund claim that a denial of the distinction between natural
and spiritual freedom is an act of bad faith?
a. Hägglund claims that the distinction between natural and spiritual freedom is an
act of bad faith because for humans to want to treat animals better, it requires
spiritual freedom.
5. [Pages 58-60] What does Hägglund mean by a double-ought structure? How does this
relate to the difference between natural and spiritual freedom?
a.
6. [Pages 60-61] Why does Hägglund claim that ‘Life cannot make sense as life without
death’? See if you can spell out the argument he makes for this claim.
7. [Pages 61-63] What are the features that characterize the idea of ‘Life’ itself?
8. [Pages 63-65] List the features that characterize natural freedom. List the features that
characterize natural freedom.