How might we make the case for freedom today? Asserting the capacity to think for ourselves seems like a good place to start. We should encourage people to live more freely by trying out new things, by experimenting with words or actions that fall outside conventional ways. We might also take inspiration from history. From periods such as the Enlightenment, when a practical battle for moral autonomy, for the right to speak, act and live freely, both sprung from and deepened a broader intellectual struggle to develop ideas suitable for the times.

Today, at a time when historic achievements related to freedom are to some extent being reversed, we need to broaden as much as possible the discussion about the history and importance of liberty. To that end, Living Freedom, a new, three-day residential school in London organised by the Institute of Ideas, is offering a unique opportunity for keen young advocates of freedom to participate in meaningful debate and a series of intellectual challenges.

Open to anyone between 18 and 25 years of age, and taking place in London from 6 to 8 April 2017, the school will provide an opportunity to explore current issues and also to discuss the historical development of the idea of freedom. Topics will include: the classical conception of freedom; freedom of conscience; existentialism and freedom; and how freedom relates to democracy. We will also explore determinism and free will, libertarianism, and the role of the state. There will be lectures, debates and workshops.

In stark contrast to the ethos of sensitivity-checking, which seeks to protect us from unfamiliar material and encourages us to stick to what we already know, Living Freedom will ask attendees to engage with difficult, controversial and challenging ideas. The school will be held in the spirit of Jean Paul Sartres argument that we should not shut ourselves up in our own minds, in a nice warm room with the shutters closed. Instead, he said, we should fly out over there, beyond oneself, to what is not oneself. If that appeals, then we hope to see you at Living Freedom.

Alastair Donald is co-founder of Living Freedom and associate director at the Institute of Ideas.

For further details and to apply to attend Living Freedom, click here.

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Living Freedom - Spiked