Freedom (philosophy)

For proper-noun uses of Freedom, see Freedom (disambiguation).

Mohandas K. Gandhi - Freedom can be achieved through inner sovereignty.

Statue of Liberty - Political freedom is one of the meanings of "freedom".

Freedom refers, in a very general sense, to the state of being free (i.e. unrestricted, unconfined or unfettered). Also, liberation from restraint or from the power of another: independence. In short, freedom is the power to act and the cause which advances this power.

In philosophy and history

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 can also signify mastery over one's inner life. In a play by Hans Sachs, the Greek philosopher Diogenes speaks to Alexander the Great, saying: You are my servants' servant. Diogenes has conquered fear, lust, and anger; they are now his servants. Alexander must serve 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, 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.

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!"

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

Usage

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 is sometimes equated with economic power. The term, as used by economists usually means the degree to which economic actors are unfettered by governmental restrictions, as in the Index of Economic Freedom. 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 practical 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

For the shorter term, being free also means having holidays, weekend, finished work for the day, having a break.

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

Quotes about freedom

"My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular." Adlai E. Stevenson Jr.
"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting" Alan Dean Foster
"Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom." Albert Einstein
"The basis of a democratic state is liberty." Aristotle
"You are in control of your life. Don't ever forget that. You are what you are because of the conscious and subconscious choices you have made." Barbara Hall
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin
"If you want to be free, there is but one way; it is to guarantee an equally full measure of liberty to all your neighbors. There is no other." Carl Schurz
"Freedom is participation in power" Cicero
"We hold in our hands, the most precious gift of all: Freedom. The freedom to express our art. Our love. The freedom to be who we want to be. We are not going to give that freedom away and no one shall take it from us!" Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider
"Only the educated are free." Epictetus
"In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved." Franklin D. Roosevelt
"Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it." George Bernard Shaw
"Freedom means the freedom to say two plus two equals four. All else follows from that" George Orwell
"Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains" Jean-Jacques Rousseau
"Freedom is not the power to do what one wants. Freedom is the power to do what is right." Pope John Paul II
"The First Amendment is often inconvenient. But that is besides the point. Inconvenience does not absolve the government of its obligation to tolerate speech." Justice Anthony Kennedy
"Patterning your life around other's opinions is nothing more than slavery." Lawana Blackwell
"While the State exists, there can be no freedom. When there is freedom there will be no State." Lenin
"Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end." Lord Acton
"Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you're a man, you take it." Malcom X
"You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom." Malcom X
"It is by the goodness of God that in our country we have those three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice either of them." Mark Twain
"Self-reliance is the only road to true freedom, and being one's own person is its ultimate reward." Patricia Sampson
"To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying Amen to what the world tells you you ought to prefer, is to have kept your soul alive." Robert Louis Stevenson
"I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it." Thomas Jefferson
"Man is free at the moment he wishes to be" Voltaire
"The love of liberty is the love of others; the love of power is the love of ourselves." William Hazlitt
"Before you seek one’s freedom, you must assume that any individual, in and of itself, has that quality called freedom, meaning that he can act according to his own free choice." Yehuda Ashlag
"That which you call your soul or spirit is your consciousness, and that which you call 'free will' is your mind's freedom to think or not, the only will you have, your only freedom, the choice that controls all the choices you make and determines your life and your character." Ayn Rand
"Intellectual freedom cannot exist without political freedom; political freedom cannot exist without economic freedom; a free mind and a free market are corollaries." Ayn Rand