It is not at all clear that Mr. Gastil's exercise should be treated with full seriousness. The question of “freedom” is, to be sure, at least the second most urgent issue of our time, ceding pride of place only to the increasing problematic of our very survival. But Mr. Gastil's painfully pretentious puffery (I said it was hard to take seriously) does nothing to advance and something to confuse our understanding of the problem.