Freedom and indipendence

(To my Delia so that of love she hear arduous sentences )

Arthur was a professor of a course of philosophy a model other student, a Socrates today’s, very intelligent and sagacious; he sees all with different eyes, he considered that we could see everything with an interpretation and with other think, this is with other look; in fact he asked always his friends, very little, because he has fame of complicated person and very bother, but he not was so but willing think alone, therefore he give questions to everybody, students, professors, janitors, custodians, principals and others, and he asked always same question: “What is freedom and independence?”, all refused answer and they gone away, somebody stopped him but after he answered: “Not difference”, but Arthur was unsatisfied, this trays were until when somebody, a girl student asked to Arthur: “What’s difference?”, and Arthur answered: “I don’t know!”, and student: “You know it, and you must explain it now!”, Arthur was astonished by this ask, and he said: “Freedom is possibility make what you want, to follow your will, your aspiration, your dreams”, and girl: “Yes, very well, and independence?”, and Arthur: “Everybody thinks that is same thing, but really they are very different”, and girl: “Why?”, and Arthur: “Because independence not is”, and girl: “Why?”, and Arthur: “Freedom is possibility that we have make something, but independence is impossible, because we have a dependence always!”, and girl: “Why?”, Arthur then: “We depend both material and immaterial thing”, and girl: “What are these?”, and Arthur: “We think that we are independent when we have a gain”, and girl: “Certainly!”, and Arthur: “On contrary not!”, and girl: “Why?”, and Arthur: “Because we depend by somebody, at work we depend by employer, at school we depend by teacher or professor, our vote is by teacher or professor, our life depends by job and gain, therefore we have two dependences, one job and second gain”, and girl: “These are material dependences”, and Arthur: “Yes”, and girl: “What are immaterial?” and Arthur: “Immaterial are those things that we don’t see but they are present between our life, those rules not written we respect, this is conventions or conformism, we don’t see it but this is present, and it is very great, but in conformity with told of Musil: “The monument is so big but nobody sees it; we don’t consider that follow convention is useless”, and girl: “But we can follow our spirit and will” and Arthur: “Yes, but our will and spirit are conditioned by convention, then it depends by convention, and we don’t say something because is very contrary use, then conventions, therefore we don’t say and make something because not are used; then we depend by use, but…”, and girl: “But?”, and Arthur: “Convention depends by us!”, and girl: “Why?”, and Arthur: “Because we make convention, and it survives until we will, because when we change convention this falls, when we change habit, convention falls, therefore we depend by conventions e conventions depend by us; therefore nobody is independent, above all who says that he is so”. Arthur then asked girl: “What’s your name?” and girl: “Philosophy as first name and last name Logic, and today I have learned what is human gender, thank you”, and she disappeared like was appeared.

Alessandro Lusana