Abstract

In this "essay in systematic philosophy," Neville takes on an ambitious project: the integration of the personal and social dimensions of freedom in terms of an "axiological cosmology." The introductory chapters which sketch this cosmology and value theory owe much to a careful and critical reading of Whitehead and Plato. The succeeding discussion of personal freedom culminates in the pivotal notion of creativity: "Personal freedom is creative activity in the environment of the given world." Consequently, freedom can be limited neither to external liberty, nor to intentional action, nor to free choice; rather, these modes of freedom find their actual unity in creative activity and its achievement of value.