Philosophy of freedom, the dispute between free will and determinism

Being free seems an unquestionable fact. However, specifying a concept in this regard may imply a vague answer. Philosophy reflects a lot on freedom and, based on it, in this article we will propose answers to the question. In addition, we will explain what concerns free will and determinism.

And the philosophers debated freedom at length, so that their arguments would be illuminating when establishing a position regarding the phenomenon of freedom. Let’s get started.

What is freedom according to philosophy?

The history of philosophy shows that even today there is no absolute consensus answering what freedom is. However, it is possible to highlight characteristics that help clarify this issue.

The initial thing is its etymology. The word freedom comes from Latin free, meaning ‘the condition of man who is free’. That is, it refers to the citizen who is autonomous. This notion is closely associated with the conception of Aristotle as a political animal.

According to this philosopher, Freedom is the ability that human beings have to decide autonomously through reason.. It is a political freedom to the extent that we can participate in social life as long as we are not deprived of it, as is the case of slaves and those subjected to it.

Therefore, it can be said that The philosophy of freedom considers this concept as a natural faculty, a condition or a state of the human being.. In this way, we enter into the dispute between the notions of free will and determinism. What do they mean? Why is it a dispute? Does this debate have a solution? Let’s investigate.

Free will: a perspective from the philosophy of freedom

According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, free will is a philosophical concept that is used to designate the ability that we human beings have to decide between several alternatives. In other words, for philosophy it is about freedom of choice without any type of precondition that guides the decision.

This term, thus considered, is problematic for several philosophers. One of them, Spinoza, maintains that the freedom we believe we have should not be reduced to the ability to decide.

This is because we can know the motives that guide our desires, but not the causes that determine the action. In this sense, Desire or wanting cannot be the only cause of our freedom, there has to be something deeper.

Despite this reservation made by Spinoza, ancient philosophers such as Plato and Socrates defend freedom in their own way.

Platonic conception of freedom

Aristotle was not the only ancient philosopher who related freedom to the nature of the individual and his social role. An article published by Archai MagazineMaintains that Freedom for Plato has to do with self-control and the fulfillment of desires according to the social place they occupy in the city..

In this sense, Plato defends that freedom is in the rational domain of our irrational desires. Furthermore, true freedom lies in the rational fulfillment of the desires that correspond to us, according to the place we occupy in the city.

So, it would make no sense to want to govern when our role is to be shoemakers. Let us remember that, for this philosopher, Society is divided into classes that come by nature. That is, we occupy the place that corresponds to us by said nature.

Socratic conception of freedom

The concept of freedom that Socrates supports is similar to that of Plato, although with a fundamental difference. In this regard, the Magazine of the Faculty of Education of Albacete maintains in an essay that Freedom for this philosopher has to do with self-control and autarky.

Self-control means that the subject masters himself and does not let himself be carried away by pleasures, impulses or bodily needs; demanding great knowledge and personal control.

For its part, autarky refers to autonomy: we do not need anything external and superficial to live. In this way, we will be truly free, since we do not have empty needs, the result of our own self-control.

Determinism and its implication in freedom from philosophy

The UNICA Magazine of Arts and Humanities argues in an article that in this way of conceiving freedom There are causes, beyond our control, that determine our actions.. This position is nourished by physics and its approach that there are predetermined laws, independent of human beings.

In this sense, We would not be completely free beings because there are causes that precede us and determine the course of action.

This perspective is not founded only on physics. Philosophy has two positions to consider the world: the dualist and the monist. Dualism refers to the division between subject and world, that is, I exist, but there is also something that is not me and operates according to its own laws. Instead, In monism there is a unity between these two separate poles, denying or erasing the contrasts between the two..

Determinism, then, is situated in the monistic position: we are determined by causal laws of nature.. However, what happens to the subject? Doesn’t it have something to contribute to this determining nature?

Nietzsche’s determinism

The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche has a particular conception of freedom, not entirely adhered to determinism, but without a doubt he denies free will. The Veritas Journal of Philosophy and Theology shared a post indicating that for Nietzsche, Society is what determines the general norm of freedom; there is talk of determinism.

However, the philosopher opposes this determination of freedom imposed by society, since it prevents the development of true freedom of the human being. For Nietzsche, this idea or notion means being our own creators. In other terms, To be free is to think and speak from ourselves and not from the opinions that others say..

Therefore, we can say that for the German philosopher our social freedom is restricted; while the true one resides in us and not in him and others.

So is freedom free will or determinism?

We cannot establish it clearly. Philosophers continue the debate and the question, so that it seems to have no end. However, It is possible to rescue from everything that has been said that our freedom is a fact.

Whether we consider it in a sense restricted by forces outside of us or we rely on the ability to decide the course of our actions, we have freedom. The nuances are important, but reflecting on it in a society that seems to demand more and more from us, can give us a little peace of mind.

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