Freedom is the first condition of the human's life as claimed by many metaphysicians, and of course, Immanuel Kant was the father figure of moral and political philosophy, who inspired many generations to ponder upon and internalize the postulate of "freedom of will". "Will" signifies the human's ability to create and superimpose the willingness over the natural conditions. It was considered to be a departure point from the thinking that humans are as natural as cow, dog or any other animal. Aristotle already expounded the social nature of the human's life, Kant added further and revolutionized the idea of freedom, autonomy, and human dignity. His conception of the categorical imperatives (morally binding duties), laid down the foundations of deontological philosophy in Europe. Deontological philosophy was though already a hallmark of Indian thought reflected in Bhagwat Geeta. Kant was a father figure of the European Enlightenment, who advocated to use reason and have courage to criticize dogmas so as to get free from the tutelage and immaturity.
But his ideas were not received well by existentialists like Heidegger, Kierkegaard, and Sartre, whose concerns were existence over essence. The concept of freedom of will was criticized on the ground that human's lives are mostly determined by forces of history, conditions of societies, natural birth, conditioning by families, schools, and universities. What is our own choosing? We do not determine our identity, mostly follow what is given to us. In that sense, it's very difficult to say if we have a lot of things in our control except a few decisions, which are taken within the determined circumstances. It's something like the rules of playing the chess, which are already agreed upon. We have to maneuver and play within the limitations of the rule. Rule and its logicality are not questioned. They are pre-suppossed to be true and valid.
Freedom of will is criticized by rationalists such as Spinoza and Leibniz. Rationalists do not believe that anything in the world is the human's choosing. For them, mind, matter, energy,
are pre-determined under certain pattern or law. Humans are part of that system and as determined as law of gravity. It is a misconception to think, what we think and do is our own exercise of will. We are genetically programmed and determined. Our abilities are potentialities written in our genes. We can not transcend the limit of what is naturally given in us, though socially many abilities and qualities may be refined.
Mostly, empiricists like the conception of freedom of will and human's capacity to alter the course of nature. Like John Locke expounded human's mind as "Tabula rasa" (empty mind) and it is experience which provides its contents. In Buddhist literatures, essence is considered to be empty (Nagarjuna). Our thoughts are as material as any hard stuff, claimed by Shamkhya philosophy. Ashtavakra Samhita claims matter, body, thought, and experience are different from the consciousness. Thought, idea, principle, concept; all are byproduct of conditioning and culture. What, then, is the essence of freedom except hypnosis that one is determining the course of action? Our life is the total sum of thoughts. Whether our thoughts are free is a question of extreme significance in a democracy. It's very difficult to know what we say or think is our own reflections or it is merely an internalised voice of our own society?
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