PHILO 12: FREEDOM

Freedom

- Multifaceted concept, but at its core, its the power to act, speak, or think without restraint

Physical Freedom

- Refers to the absence of external barriers

- It's the ability to move, act, and exist in the physical world without being physically hindered or imprisoned

Moral Freedom

- Is an internal capacity

- The ability to choose and act based on your own rational thought, conscience, and values, independent of external or internal compulsions

- This is the kind of freedom that allows a person in a difficult situation to choose to remain hopeful and kind

Existential Freedom

- Jean-Paul Sartre

- He argued that we are "condemned to be free"

- This means that humans have no predetermined purpose or essence, and our essence is created through the choices we make

- Sartre is relevant because he places the burden of responsibility squarely on the individual, emphasizing that we are the sole authors of our lives

- The consequences of this freedom is that we bear individual responsibility for every path we choose

Autonomy

- Immanuel Kant

- True freedom is not the ability to do whatever we want but the ability to act according to a moral law we give ourselves

- Self-governance

- Kant is relevant because he connects freedom to our rational nature

Political Philosophy

- The study of fundamental questions about the state, government, politics, liberty, justice and the enforcement of a legal code by authority

- Negative vs Positive Freedom

Negative Freedom

- "Freedom from" interference

- It is the absence of external constraints, such as government intervention or laws that prevent you from acting

Positive Freedom

- "Freedom to" pursue your goals

- It is the presence of capacity, opportunity, and resources that allow you to act and achieve your potential

- This view suggests that true freedom might require a supportive society or government to provide necessities like education or healthcare

Determinism

- Baruch Spinoza

- Spinoza argued that human actions are not free but are the necessary consequences of prior causes

- His philosophy is relevant because it challenges our fundamental assumptions about freedom, prompting us to consider the powerful, often unseen forces that influence our choices

- True freedom is understanding these influences

Prudence

- Making good choices

- The practical wisdom to apply our moral knowledge to a specific situation to achieve a good outcome

- Aristotle called this a key virtue, linking freedom not just to choice but to the cultivation of a virtuous character

- A key part of this is understanding that every decision involves a trade-off or an opportunity cost

Opportunity Cost

- The loss of a potential benefit when we choose something else

- A prudent person weighs the benefits against the costs, accepting that every choice has a price

Eudaimonia

- Human flourishing

Utilitarianism

- Associated with John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham(Father)

- The best action is the one that maximizes overall happiness

- Mill provides a framework for evaluating choices for how they affect the greater community

- Bentham created a "felicific calculus" to measure the pleasure or pain an action might produce to help us make the best decision for the greatest number of people

Felicific Calculus

- To measure the pleasure or pain an action might produce to help us make the best decision for the greatest number of people

- Highlights the importance of analyzing the consequences of our choices in a systematic, almost mathematical, way

Social Contract

- A theory that posits a society exists because of an implicit agreement between individuals who establish a set of moral and political rules of behavior

John Locke's Social Contract

- Emphasizes that while we have natural rights and freedoms, they are not absolute

- Our freedom is limited by a moral law that dictates we must not harm others

- This is a key principle of his social contract theory, which argues that individual liberty is only possible when we respect the rights of others

Thomas Hobbes's Social Contract

- Highlights the vital role of consequences in maintaining social order

- Human life is in a state of nature is "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short"

- We enter into a social contract to escape this chaos, giving up our freedom to do whatever we want in exchange for securtiy

Economic Freedom

- Karl Marx

- He challenged the idea of individual freedom, arguing that the choices we make are heavily influenced by our social and economic conditions

- True freedom is constrained by the need for survival

Principle of the Common Good

- Society must be organized to allow all people to reach their full potential

- Our personal freedom is never an end in itself but a must be used for the good of others, and our choices have a moral weight that can either build up or tear down the community

Self-Reflection

- Socrates famously said "the unexamined life is not worth living"

- Socrates calls for us to use our freedom to engage in this essential self-awareness

- We can understand the consequences of our past choices and gain wisdom to make better ones in the future

Karma

- Buddhist philosophy which means "action" or "deed" is the principle of cause and effect, where every action leads to consequences

- This philosophy is relevant because it provides a powerful framework for understanding that our choices ripple outwards and ultimately shape our future

Übermensch (Overman)

- Friedrich Nietzsche

- We must create our own values

- A person who has overcome traditional morality to create their own values

- Nietzsche is relevant because he represents an extreme form of individual freedom and responsibility, where the consequences of our choices are entirely our own to bear

Catholic Teaching

- Drawing from the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas, teaches that true freedom is the ability to choose what is right--Gift from God

- True Happiness (Beatitude) is found not in worldly pleasure but the in a right relationship with God, prudence is a cardinal virtue, essential for forming a correct conscience; a prudent choice must align with God's will and leads to eternal happiness

- Human beings are inherently social creatures, created in the image of the Trinity; our freedom is always exercised within a community and has a social dimension

- True self-reflection is a process of forming one's conscience in alignment with moral truth, which is revealed by God

Conscience

- Judgment of reason

- We recognize the moral quality of an act

- It is a key spiritual practice that helps us to see the consequences of our actions and to align our choices with God's law