Facts about Freedom

The epistemological value of freedom rests on the recognition of human ignorance about the past, present and future.

Hayek expands this distinction between Anglican and Gallic freedom into a comparison between what he calls true and false individualism.

By contrast a free person can do whatever he chooses as long as he does not break the law and infringe on the freedom of others.

So if everything including the behavior of human beings is determined by the immutable laws of cause and effect, free will and hence freedom is an illusion.

A person who as they grow older is not given more and more responsibility and the freedom that goes with it does not fully mature.

Goethe said, "From the forces that all creatures bind, who overcomes himself his freedom finds."

Freedom has traditionally been linked with the idea of responsibility.

To the layman, this is understood as: "your freedom ends where my nose begins."

People without an inner spiritual life find it hard to cope with freedom and often turn to alcohol, drugs and join gangs as an escape.

John Locke said that such laws preserve and enlarge freedom.

When people have the freedom to be responsible they naturally enough will seek to improve their lot and that of their family and society.

Hayek also pointed out that national independence also is no guarantee of freedom.

Most liberal democratic societies are professedly characterized by various freedoms which are afforded the legal protection of the state.

Freedom within the law is thus the basis for a peaceful society as it makes it possible for people with incommensurate religions and opinions to live side by side as neighbors.

The U.N.'s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, however, seems to reflect both negative and positive freedom.

Greater "negative freedom" meant fewer restrictions on possible action.

All these have the effect of undermining human responsibility and have been used to justify taking away people's freedom.

Freedom is always constrained by laws or rules that apply equally to all members of a society.

Some constitutions, especially of European countries, do contain positive rights and freedoms, such as a freedom or right to have a job, housing, medical care, or education.

There have been two main attacks on the idea of freedom.

So the demand for positive freedom always leads to the loss of negative freedom as people are no longer protected by the law.

Freedom allows people to pursue their interests within the framework of law.

Freedom enables a person to make decisions that will affect their future.

The Christian idea of freedom includes the expectation that a truly free person will live following their conscience.

Freedom is a sociological concept and without society the word has no meaning.

A further attack on the idea of human freedom comes from those who argue that human nature is a product of a person's environment and upbringing.

According to Plato's account, Socrates was in no way subtle about his particular beliefs on government.

When constitutions do contain such positive rights and freedoms, the state needs to spend money to grant those rights and freedoms, but negative freedom does not require such public or state expenditures.

The freedom to own property and do with it what one chooses is also important.

To achieve such positive freedom collective political action is necessary to empower such people through a redistribution of wealth.

According to the American moral philosopher Susan Wolf, freedom is the ability to act in accordance with the True and the Good.

The concept of political freedom is closely allied with the concepts of civil liberties and individual rights.

Some notable twentieth century individuals who are often held to have exemplified this form of freedom include Nelson Mandela, Rabbi Leo Baeck, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Gandhi, Lech Wa??sa and Vбclav Havel.

Freedom is valuable for the individual and also for society.

Philosophers have traditionally made a distinction between freedom and license.

The English word "freedom" is an Anglo-Saxon word combining the words "free" and "doom."

Liberty is often used as an alternative to freedom.

Freedom is also said to distinguish human beings from animals who as a result are not treated as moral agents.

Freedom is traditionally understood as independence of the arbitrary will of another.

Freedom can also signify inner autonomy, or mastery over one's inner condition.

Saint Paul expounded a more internal sense of the freedom of the spirit.

The ama-gi, a Sumerian cuneiform word, is the earliest known written symbol representing the idea of freedom.

Negative freedom has often been used religiously as a rallying cry for revolution or rebellion.

Complete freedom includes the inner freedom of the will and the external freedom of the environment such that a person's plans and deliberations are not arbitrarily thwarted by either himself or some other agency.

Freedom is not a value but is the ground of values because it allows a person to create and appreciate values, to pursue the classical values of beauty, truth and goodness.

So freedom is often described as a mystery.