Commentary Towards the beginning of “Nineteen-Eighty-Four,” George Orwell has his unhappy protagonist Winston Smith jot down what he describes as an “axiom.” “Freedom,” he writes, “is the freedom to say that two plus two equals four. If that is granted, all else follows.” That seemingly simple, in reality deep, observation is akin to Bishop Butler’s…

Commentary Toward the beginning of “Nineteen Eighty-Four,” George Orwell has his unhappy protagonist Winston Smith jot down what he describes as an “axiom.” “Freedom,” he writes, “is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.” That seemingly simple, in reality, deep, observation is akin to Bishop…