What is Freedom?

What is Freedom?

Freedom is a concept that refers to many aspects of human life. Commonly defined as that natural faculty that has human to act according to his own will. It is also possible to understand freedom as the State in which man not is being enslaved or imprisoned by another. It is a concept that refers to those aspects related to independence, with the license to do that thing which is deemed appropriate or convenient.

Etymologically the word derives from latin "liber", which is interpreted as a "person whose spirit of procreation is active", this derived from the meaning which has the addition of man in society to reach sexual maturity, so that it begins to assume responsibilities. While this data provides insights into the origin of the word, does not satisfy as an explanation of this important human value.

The concept of freedom is something which has made us reflect on multiple senses, being one of the fundamental themes of philosophy throughout human existence. The former, since many times, doing always what we want leads us astray, that ultimately can be terminated by enslave us to something (do not confuse liberty with license). Therefore, the freedom to act according to the own will may be terminated for cause us to lose the much-desired freedom. Also for certain currents of philosophy, freedom is related to autonomy, which is understood as the dimension of the reason that allows human beings to think giving standards if same without that mediate any authority (definition that drove the philosopher Immanuel Kant), which leads to personal and social responsibility.

Another of the problems and contradictions facing freedom relates to the need to regulate human life in the world. All Nations and societies formed on the planet have laws and rules governing human behavior; you might think so that we do not have any freedom. But you have to wonder about the way that would acquire the life in society if there were no such standards and guidelines of conduct.

Now we see quotes and interesting definitions on what is freedom for philosophy:

• René Descartes: ".. .consists only in that, to affirm or deny, pursue, or avoid, things the understanding proposed by us, labor way so that we don't feel that any force force."
• Spinoza: ".. .it is free which exists only by their nature need and only because she is determined action".
• For Aristotle, the freedom is linked to the ability to decide for itself on the human being, and was linked to morality.
• According to Saint Augustine, liberty consists of the effective realization of good, to achieve bliss.
• For Hegel, the concept is fundamentally the freedom of the idea.
• According to Henri Bergson, freedom is the ability of the consciousness governed by their very nature, independent of the laws and phenomena of nature.

As it is possible to Intuit, freedom is an abstract concept of very difficult definition, and that in addition, in an attempt to to do so, human has been found against multiple paradoxes. Due to this, which according to very personal, freedom can only be understood from what is not. In other words, it is only possible to define it according to its context and the conditions in which is given, since in the majority of cases, only can be use it depending on options, always limited presented to us.

Translated for educational purposes.