Ideas of the 20th Century

In lecture four, Dr. Bonevac discusses freedom through Friedrich Hayek’s economic philosophy and George Orwell’s warnings about totalitarianism. Hayek argues that socialism, despite its appeal as a rational pursuit of the common good, ultimately undermines individual liberty, concentrates power, and fails because centralized planning cannot manage the complexity of society. Orwell complements this critique by showing how totalitarian systems manipulate language and reality, eroding truth, integrity, and human dignity. The lecture concludes by considering democratic socialism and the dangers of political language manipulation.