Freedom (philosophy)
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Freedom (the idea of being free) is a very broad concept that has been given numerous different interpretations by different philosophies and schools of thought. The protection of interpersonal freedom can be the object of a social and political investigation, while the metaphysical foundation of inner freedom is a philosophical and psychological question. Both forms of freedom come together in each individual as the internal and external values mesh together in a dynamic compromise and power struggle; the society fighting for power in defining the values of individuals and the individual fighting for societal acceptance and respect in establishing one's own values in it.
In philosophy, freedom often ties in with the question of free will. Libertarian philosophers have argued that all human beings are always free - Jean-Paul Sartre, for instance, famously claimed that humans are "condemned to be free" - because they always have a choice. Even an external authority can only threaten punishment after an action, not physically prevent a person from carrying out an action. At the other end of the spectrum, determinism claims that the future is inevitably determined by prior causes and freedom is an illusion.
The philosopher Isaiah Berlin drew an important distinction between "freedom from" (negative freedom) and "freedom to" (positive freedom). For example, freedom from oppression and freedom to develop one's potential. Both these types of freedom are in fact reflected in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Freedom as the absence of restraint means unwilling to subjugate, lacking submission, or without forceful inequality. The achievement of this form of freedom depends upon a combination of the resistance of the individual (or group) and one's (their) environment; if one is in jail or even limited by a lack of resources, this person is free within their power and environment, but not free to defy reality. Natural laws restrict this form of freedom; for instance, no one is free to fly (though we may or may not be free to attempt to do so). Isaiah Berlin appears to call this kind of freedom "negative freedom" - an absence of obstacles put in the way of my action (especially by other people). He distinguishes this from "positive freedom", which refers to one's power to make choices leading to action.
Freedom has often been used a rallying cry for revolution or rebellion. For instance, the Bible records the story of Moses leading his people out of Egypt and its oppression (slavery), and into freedom to worship God.
In the context of internal control, freedom is also known as self-determination, individual sovereignty, or autonomy.
Freedom can also signify inner autonomy, or mastery over one's inner condition. This has several possible significances: [1]
- the ability to act in accordance with the dictates of reason;
- the ability to act in accordance with one's own true self or values;
- the ability to act in accordance with universal values (such as the True and the Good); and
- the ability to act independently of both the dictates of reason and the urges of desires, i.e. arbitrarily (autonomously).
In a play by Hans Sachs, the Greek philosopher Diogenes speaks to Alexander the Great, saying: You are my servants' servant. The philosopher has conquered fear, lust, and anger; Alexander still serves these masters. Though he has conquered the world without, he has not yet mastered the world within. This kind of mastery is dependent upon no one and nothing other than ourselves. Richard Lovelace's poem echoes this experience:
- Stone walls do not a prison make
- Nor iron bars a cage
- Minds innocent and quiet take
- That for an hermitage
Notable 20th century individuals who have exemplified this form of freedom include Nelson Mandela, Rabbi Leo Baeck, Gandhi, Lech Wałęsa and Václav Havel.
The French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau asserted that the condition of freedom was inherent to humanity, an inevitable facet of the possession of a soul and sapience, with the implication that all social interactions subsequent to birth imply a loss of freedom, voluntarily or involuntarily. He made the famous quote "Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains".
Rudolf Steiner developed a philosophy of freedom based upon the development of situationally-sensitive ethical intuitions.
In those with spiritual beliefs, freedom may encompass the peaceful acceptance of reality. The theological question of freedom generally focuses on reconciling the experience or reality of inner freedom with the omnipotence of the divine.
The ama-gi, a Sumerian cuneiform word, is the earliest known written symbol representing the idea of freedom. The English word "freedom" comes from an Indo-European root that means "to love." Cognates of the English word "freedom" include the Old High German word for "peace" and our English word "afraid" from a Vulgar Latin word for breaking the peace.
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[edit] Usage
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To meet Wikipedia's quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup because it is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this section to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (September 2007) |
- Political freedom is the absence of political restraints, particularly with respect to speech, religious practice, and the press. For further readings, see First Amendment of the United States Constitution, an amendment which guarantees protection of these political freedoms.
- Personal liberty can refer to not being in prison (including not being a victim of false imprisonment). It may also refer to the enjoyment of all of the privileges of membership of a place or club (as in the honour, the Freedom of the City), financial freedom or anarchism.
- Economic freedom usually means the degree to which economic actors are unfettered by governmental restrictions. Its most prominent advocates include Austrian School, Chicago School and Supply-side economists. Free market advocates frame the issue of economic freedom as "the degree to which the public sector interferes with the private sector," and argue that the less a government acts to interfere with the economic freedom of businesses and individuals (such as through taxation or regulation), the healthier the economy will tend to be. The advocates of mixed economies and socialism contend that the public sector need not always be seen as an unwanted intruder on the economy, and that government action should not be seen as necessarily interfering or freedom-infringing. Critics of capitalism look at economic freedom as a positive freedom, where people are only "free" when they have the means to sustain themselves. Some Marxists are willing to curtail traditional freedoms to promote their objectives.
- Freedom of choice, i.e. free will.
- Freedom of speech is similar to freedom of information, but refers to a general lack of such restrictions (on the creation, use, modification and dissemination of ideas) in a society by the government or those that hold power in that society.
- Freedom of thought is also known as freedom of conscience and refers to the right of an individual to hold a particular thought, belief or viewpoint regardless of those held by others.
- Psychological freedom, i.e. the ability to make the choice to not be afraid of failure in its most basic form.
- Being not in any relationship (be it a romantic relationship or a cooperative, for example), free to do what one wants, including starting a new relationship or having relationship tests (like one-night-stands, casual physical intimacy, etc).
- Freedom of education closely resembles autodidacticism, which views modern schooling as a dismal system of captivity. Students have traditionally seen gaps in the school year as freedom from their oppression. This idea is not to be confused with liberal education, as one may interpret them as opposites.
- Software freedom or other freedom of information (or ideas); i.e.: information (esp. software) being free of technological or (more commonly) legal restrictions on its use, modification, distribution and (less often restricted) creation. See also: Free software, Open source and gratis software.
- Leaving one's parents' home and coming of age.
- The absence of interactions in physics; for example, asymptotic freedom discovered by David Gross, David Politzer, and Frank Wilczek.
- Political philosopher Gerald MacCallum designed the following concept of freedom, allowing for its 'fleshing out' into many different conceptions: "X is free/not free from Y to do/not do/become/not become Z."
- Freedom from government and Church - Christian anarchism.
[edit] References
- ^ Wolf, Susan, Freedom Within Reason
[edit] Bibliography
- Aristotle, The Nicomachean Ethics, Book III.
- Augustine (Saint), On Free Will.
- Hobbes, Thomas, Of Liberty and Necessity.
- Hume, David, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding.
- Mill, John Stuart, On Liberty.
- Plato, The Republic.
- Schiller, Friedrich, Letters upon the Aesthetic Education of Man. ISBN 1-4191-3003-X
- Wolf, Susan, Freedom Within Reason, Oxford: 1990.
- Berlin, Isaiah, Four Essays on Liberty. London: Oxford University Press, 1969.
[edit] See also
- Freedom (political)
- Anarchism
- Golden Freedom
- Liberty
- Anarchy
- Christian libertarianism
- Parametric determinism
- List of indices of freedom
- Leo Strauss
- Inner peace
- Self-ownership
- Philosophy of Freedom
[edit] External links
- Freedom Fries Media
- Sovereignty and Freedom
- Psychological Freedom - Freedom from the inner shackles
- Freedom of Will — an article by Rav Michael Laitman.
- Freedom Theory
- Free Will article from Catholic Encyclopedia
