Lecture 6. Philosophy of Freedom

1.

Philosophy of Freedom
1/ Freedom ( an internal philosophical
Liberty (external ,social construct)
construct ) and
2/ The concept of Freedom in the history of philosophy
• Free Will and determinism
• Freedom of Moral Choice (Erich Fromm)
•Role of Freedom in motivation, realization and selfactualization ( Maslow)
•Internal and External Freedom
Positive and Negative understanding of Freedom ( I Kant)
«Freedom - is a recognized necessity» ( Spinoza)
Freedom, responsibility and choice (Sartre)
3/ Theory of liberalism of John Locke Liberty as political
freedom and its types
4/ Ideas of Nomadic freedom and independence in the
philosophy of "Alash Orda" Liberal Party

2.

The purpose of the lecture:
The purpose of the lecture:
identifying the impact of
Freedom and Liberty on the
Happiness of human life.

3.

Importance of Freedom and Liberty
• “I see the Liberty of the individual not only
as a great moral good in itself (or, with Lord
Acton, as the highest political good), but
also as the necessary condition for the
flowering of all the other goods that
mankind cherishes: moral virtue,
civilization, the arts and sciences, economic
prosperity. Out of liberty, then, stem the
glories of civilized life.”
• Murray Rothbard
Murray Rothbard
1926 -1995) American economist

4.

1. Meaning of Freedom and Liberty
What Is Freedom?
• Freedom is the right to act, speak, or think
as one wants without being constrained in
one`s actions in his or her present state and
conditions .
• Another question is whether there are
conditions under which a person can do
whatever he wants ?
• Therefore, it is unlikely that there is Absolute
Freedom, as well as Absolute Truth, as a
person constantly interacts with the
environment, circumstances, and other
people.

5.

Freedom`s
dimension
In philosophy and religion, Freedom is
associated with having free Will without
unjust constraints
• A person has the freedom to do things that
will not, in theory or in practice, be
prevented by other forces.
• Therefore Freedom without human realm or
human society, communications has no
sense
• Thus , Freedom generally has political or
psychological dimension.

6.

Difference between Freedom and Liberty
• "Freedom" is an
internal construct.
• “Everything can be taken from a man but one
thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose
one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances,
to choose one’s own way .... can not be taken»
«To be free is to be autonomous in thoughts, first
and actions, second»
« Your freedom to act a certain way can be taken
away from you – but your attitude about your
circumstances cannot»
Viktor Frankl :
"YES" to life: a psychologist in a concentration camp»
«Man's Search for Meaning»
Viktor Frankl, 1905 -1997,
the legendary Holocaust survivor

7.

Liberty is a social condition vs Freedom is the inner
philosophical and psychological condition.
• “Liberty is a condition that arises from free people living together in
society. Liberty is a social condition. While Freedom is the inner
philosophical and psychological condition.”
• In short, Freedom is inherent to humans. It exists within them by
virtue of their humanity. While Liberty is a political construct that
allows people to enjoy freedoms such as property rights, free speech,
freedom of association, etc.
Freedom is natural state of mankind. Liberty is a result of
development of democracy and social contract

8.

Liberty
• “Liberty" is an external construct.
• It's the state of being free within
society from oppressive restrictions
imposed by authority on one's way of
life, behavior, or political views.

9.

Political discourse of Freedom - Liberty
• In political discourse, Political Freedom
is often associated with Liberty and
autonomy in the sense of giving
oneself their own laws , and with
having rights and the civil liberties
without interference by the state.
Political freedom or Liberty include
Freedom of assembly, Freedom of
association, Freedom of Choice, and
Freedom of Speech, Freedom of the
Press

10.

Types of Political Freedom ( Liberties) Freedom of
expression
Freedom of expression includes
1. Freedom of assembly, of association, and petition
2. Freedom of Speech,
3. Freedom of the Press
4. Freedom of Religion
1. Freedom of assembly used with the freedom of association, is the
individual right to come together and collectively express, promote, pursue
and defend common interests. The right to freedom of association is
recognized as a human right, a political freedom and a civil liberty. BUT
This freedom can be limited by laws that protect public safety.

11.

Freedom of speech, Freedom of the press,
Freedom of religion
2. Freedom of Speech is the right of people to express their opinions
publicly without governmental interference.
3. Freedom of the Press prohibits the government from interfering
with the printing and distribution of information or opinions.
4. Freedom of Religion is the freedom of an individual or community,
in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice,
worship, and observance.

12.

Political freedom
• Political freedom is expressed in the
principle freedom of choice,
• freedom to vote,
• political pluralism,
• freedom of political organization and
self-organization.

13.

Economic freedom
• Freedom of enterprise, Market
reflects the economic freedom
• The economic Freedom equivalent
of the freedom is private property.
Market "automatically
provides justice."

14.

2/ The concept of Freedom in the history of philosophy : Free Will
• Free Will is the idea that we are able to have some choice in how we
act and assumes that we are free to choose our behavior, in other
words we are self-determined.
• Free Will is the ability to choose between different possible courses
of action
• Free Will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility,
praise, guilt, sin, and other judgments which apply only to actions
that are freely chosen.

15.

Free Will vs Determinism ?
• Some understand the Free Will to be the capacity to make choices in
which the outcome has not been determined by past events.
• Determinism is the doctrine about strong predestination between
cause and its consequences.
• Determinism argue that all events, including moral choices, are
completely determined by previously existing causes. Therefore
determinism sees Free Will as an illusion and believes that every
event and action have a cause.

16.

Human Freedom - choice to do Good or Evil
• However, according to E. Fromm
determinism is not inevitable, Therefore
people always have the choice to do
good or evil which is the essence of
Human freedom
Erich Fromm (1900 –1980)
German psychologist, humanistic philosophe
r, and democratic socialist.

17.

Role of Freedom in motivation, realization
and self-actualization
• For humanistic psychologists such as A. Maslow
(1943) Freedom is not only possible but also
necessary if we are to become fully functional
human beings.
Abraham Maslow ( 1908 – 1970) an
American psychologist who
created Maslow's hierarchy of needs

18.

What are human needs? The original hierarchy of
needs of Maslow
• 1. Physiological needs - these are biological requirements for human survival,
e.g., air, food, drink, shelter, clothing, warmth, sex, sleep.
• 2. Safety needs - Once an individual’s physiological needs are satisfied, the
needs for security and safety become salient. People want to experience order,
predictability and control in their lives.
• 3. Love and belongingness needs - social needs involves feelings of
belongingness. The need for interpersonal relationships ( Family, Love)
• 4. Esteem which Maslow classified into two categories: (i) esteem for oneself
(dignity, achievement, mastery, independence)
• and (ii) the desire for reputation or respect from others (e.g., status, prestige).
Confession
• 5. Self-actualization needs are the highest level in Maslow's hierarchy,
and refer to the FREE realization of a person's potential, self-fulfillment,
seeking personal growth and peak self- realization

19.

20.

21.

Internal and External freedom
• Internal freedom is a freedom to live in accordance with one`s own,
individual purposes, when the person concerned have the freedom
to do what is best for their own well-being without violating anyone
interests .
• Internal freedom based on the belief that being free means be in
harmony with own actions and preferred values, life goals or
worldview.
• An external freedom arises from the absence of external
restrictions and barriers of free speech and choice in society, which
must be ensured by liberal laws of democratic society

22.

Positive and Negative understanding of Freedom
• Positive and Negative understanding of Freedom goes
back to German classical philosophy of the 18th century
Immanuel Kant - author of famous Сategorical
imperative or a moral rule • “Freedom of one person must compatible with the
freedom of the other people on the basis of common
law."
• This categorical imperative can be explained as follow
principle “Where the freedom of one person starts,
there ends the freedom of another."
• From them we can conclude that, despite voluntary selfrestraint, a person remains to be free
I .Kant (1724- 1804)

23.

Positive and Negative understanding of Freedom
Positive way - Freedom – as a recognized necessity
In a Positive sense «Freedom - is a recognized necessity»
«I call a free thing that exists from the necessity of its nature...»
Benedictus de Spinoza
• In other words: everything that happens in the world happens out
of necessity.
• Freedom consists of the knowledge of a given necessity and
the voluntary desire to live in accordance with it.
• Spinoza was a major advocate of free speech. His general
position is that governments should permit people to freely
express their opinions.
• Spinoza is routinely considered as the first liberal democrat
Benedictus de Spinoza,
1632 –1677, Dutch philosopher
[

24.

Freedom of choice between Evil and Goodness
• Is a person free if he voluntarily chose goodness? , since
nobody forces him to be kind and humanistic.
• On the other hand, If a person chose evil, he is also free,
but his freedom turns into permissiveness, dictatorship,
and crime
• Each can choose their own path.... because there is
freedom of choice between Evil and Goodness
• Religion plays an important role in this free moral
choice.
in this regard, F.M. Dostoevsky is famous for his
words "If there is no God, then everything is permitted"
F.M. Dostoevsky 1821- 1881

25.

Negative understanding of Freedom
• - ANARCHISM
• - ABSOLUT PERMISSIVENESS is action
without any legal restriction or
boundaries
• - Despotism - is the extreme opposite
the Freedom

26.

Philosophy of Existentialism of Sartre: Freedom, responsibility and choice
To exist is to choose
• Existentialism stress of problem the existence and essence of
human life
Sartre believed that human existence is the result of chance or
accident. There is no meaning or purpose in our lives , therefore,
we must rely on our own resources.
• Sartre thought that the existence of human being manifests itself
in the choice of actions, and freedom of the will.
• Our existence is absolutely free and The developing our life in
full freedom.
• In this way, the responsibility of building our future only is in
our hands, but the future is uncertain and so I have no escape
from anxiety, stress, and despair.
Jean-Paul Sartre, 1905,—
1980, French novelist,
philosopher
he father of
existentialism, argued
that man lacks essence
and is condemned to be
free.
To exist is to choose

27.

Freedom - Creativity - Responsibility
• People are always under the shadow of anxiety
(worriness); higher responsibility leads to higher
anxiety. (worriness)
• However, Sartre says that existentialism is not
pessimism.
• Еhere is an accord between the feeling of
anxiety and freedom
• Existence involves freedom - Creativity Responsibility. Man is always responsible for his
choice.

28.

Freedom and Happiness
• Freedom is a necessary condition for a
happy life
• The Freedom is one of the main natural
innate Human Rights
If a person wants to be punished?
What do I do with him ? - Deprive
him of freedom
• Deprivation of Liberty is a form of legal
punishment
• Since without Freedom, a person suffers,
therefore he cannot be Happy

29.

3/ Theory of liberalism
of John Locke
• The English philosopher John Locke
(1632-1704) is one of the “Fathers of
democracy", the founder of the theory
of Natural human rights and the ideology
of Liberalism. The main work of D. Locke
is the work "Two treatises on state
government“
• In nature, there is no privilege, before
God or nature all human are equal. In
the words of John Locke"All human
beings are born to be free and equal,
because they are the property of the
God".
John Locke (1632-1704)

30.

The theory of natural human rights
• The theory of natural human rights is Idea
that a person by nature, by birth, is a Free
being, endowed with the same rights to
life, liberty and property.
• The four main natural rights: Life, Health,
Liberty and Possessions.
• The theory of natural rights consists of idea
that all humans endowed from nature by
equal rights to life, liberty and property.
“

31.

Natural equality – Political equality
• There are no privileges in nature,
everyone is equal before God or
nature. Freedom is one of the natural,
vital human rights. Property, according
to liberalism, is one of the
embodiments of freedom and a
natural right that must be protected by
law. Natural equality must also be
protected and ensured by law.
• Thus the theory of the social contract
John Locke argues in favor of the
autonomy of civil society from the
state and the autonomy of the
individual in particular

32.

Liberalism
• Liberalism comes from the Latin
word liberal - Freedom and is an
ideology based on the principles of
the protection of individual
Freedom, the priority of the
interests of each single individual,
the protection of human rights in all
spheres of society.

33.

• Respect for the person as an
individual, priority of his
personal interests is the core of
the ideology of liberalism. The
basic principles of liberalism
include: a small government,
individualism, the economic,
political and civil liberties.

34.

• «the man himself better than
any government knows what
it needs».
John Stuart Mill (1806 - 1873)
British philosopher and political economist John Mill promoted the ideas of utilitarianism.

35.

4/ Ideas of Nomadic freedom and independence in the philosophy
of "Alash Orda" Liberal Party figures.
Nomadic freedom
Free nomadic way of life determines the unique
phenomenon of nomadic democracy, which was based
on a few fundamental principles:
• Election of khans;
• Competitiveness that is rooted in the traditional
culture;
• Nomadic freedom rooted in nomadic style of life
• The moral resource of power within Kazakh traditional
society;
• Authority of traditional judges - biys or the authority
of elders;

36.

Kazakh "Alash Orda" Liberal Party
• The great importance in the political history of
Kazakhstan has the first Liberal Party
• of Kazakh intellectuals "AlashOrda"
• (1917-1920) whose members
• Alikhan Bukeikhanov.
• A. Baitursynov,
• H. Dosmukhamedov,
• M.Tynyshpaev,
• M. Zhumabaev,
• Sh. Kudaiberdiev headed by
• "AlashOrda“ Party advocated for Kazakh
independence, and the establishment of the liberaldemocratic principles of politics in early 20th-century
in Kazakhstan.

37.

Key words
• Freedom
• Liberty
• Determinism
• Free will
• Self-actualization
• Positive and Negative understanding of Freedom
• Internal and External freedom
• Categorical imperative of I Kant
• «Freedom - is a recognized necessity»
• The theory of natural human rights
• Liberalism
• Political pluralism
• Existentialism Freedom and responsibility

38.

Control questions:
• How You understand the principle «Freedom - is a recognized
necessity»?
• Explain the thesis “Where the freedom of one person starts, there
ends the freedom of another.“
• Are you agree with the principle of Market "automatically
provides justice “?
• How you understand The theory of natural human rights ?
• What is the Positive and Negative understanding of Freedom?
• How do you understand Internal and External freedom?