Freedom (philosophy)
:''For other uses of
Freedom,
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Mohandas K. Gandhi - Freedom can be achieved through inner sovereignty. |
Freedom is a many-faceted term encompassing the ability to act in all ways which add to that ability. It is oftentimes gauged by the degree of absence of external restraint — or control; the lack of submissiveness and servility as the anti-thesis of freedom. In the context of external control, it is also known as self-determination or autonomy — On the other hand, freedom is also called inner peace; the presence of inner control, an inner experience of choice, spontaneity, fulfillment, and even spirituality.
The protection of interpersonal freedoms 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.
Spiritually, freedom encompasses the peaceful acceptance of reality. The theological question of freedom generally focuses on reconciling the experience or reality of inner freedom with the omniptence of the divine.
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Statue of Liberty - Political freedom is one of the meanings of "freedom". |
An absence of restraint
Freedom can mean an absence of external restraints; in this case it signifies the opposite of slavery. The achievement of this form of freedom depends upon the environment; if I am in jail or even limited by a lack of resources, I am not free to do all that I might wish to do. Even natural laws restrict this form of freedom; no one is free to fly without wings (though we may or may not be free to attempt to do so).
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 slavery, and into freedom. In his famous "
I Have a Dream" speech
Martin Luther King, Jr. quoted an old spiritual song sung by black American slaves:
"Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty we are free at last!"
Inner autonomy
Freedom can also signify inner autonomy, or mastery over one's inner condition. This has several possible significances:
[Wolf, Susan, Freedom Within Reason]* 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 hermitageNotable
20th century individuals who have exemplified this form of freedom include
Nelson Mandela, Rabbi
Leo Baeck,
Gandhi, 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.
The
ama-gi, a Sumerian cuneiform word, is the earliest known written symbol representing the idea of freedom.
*
Political freedom is the absence of political restraints, particularly with respect to
speech,
religious practice, and
the press.
* 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.
* 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.
* Economic freedom usually means the degree to which economic actors are unfettered by
governmental restrictions, as in the
Index of Economic Freedom. Critics of capitalistic free markets equate Economic freedom with
economic power. Some economists, such as those responsible for the
Wall Street Journal/
Heritage Foundation Index, 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
law), the healthier the economy will tend to be. Other schools of economic thought argue that the public sector need not always be seen as an unwanted intruder on the economy, that government action should not be seen as necessarily interfering or freedom-infringing. (See also [
1],
Free trade)
*
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.
*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 141913003X
*Wolf, Susan,
Freedom Within Reason, Oxford: 1990.
*
Freedom (political)*
Golden Freedom*
Liberty*
Christian libertarianism*
List of indices of freedom*
Leo Strauss*
Inner peace*
Self-ownership*
Freedom of Willâ€"an article by Rav Michael Laitman.
*
Freedom Theory.
*
Free Will article from Catholic Encyclopedia
