“There were no marigolds”

Africana Philosophy and Freedom as Mutual Responsibility

Abstract

Individual freedom appears within Western liberal thinking as the supreme value of civic, social, and political life. This intellectual tradition tends to frame freedom as the right to unrestrained action and non-commitment enjoyed by the central subject of the Euromodern world, the individual. Here, we examine Toni Morrison’s novel, The Bluest Eye, and its rich discussion on freedom as a value and practice. The character of Cholly Breedlove, specifically, provides an entry point into a dynamic critique of liberal notions of freedom and individuality. Rather than center the individual subject, Morrison articulates a vision of freedom rooted in a collective and participatory process of community, calling our attention to the interplay between freedom and mutual responsibility. As she stated in a 1979 speech at Barnard College, “the function of freedom is to free someone else.” This aphorism precedes a broader and more substantial philosophical formulation: freedom as mutual responsibility.