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Dichotomy of Freedom and Justice: Two Approaches

Freedom is the essence of human being, devoid of it, human species is reduced to mere chattel, governed by causality or contingency of existence. Out of heteronomy or hypothetical imperative, every animal, plant, or even human being lives their life. Every being is subjected to law of nature; each living creature is affected by hunger, thirst, lust, desire, greed, fear, hope, anxiety, expectation, and mentality to acquire more goods. What makes a human not merely a subject of contingency instead of capacity to transcend the limitation of heternomy argued German philosopher Immanuel Kant. He argued that the human being has pure practical reasoning which may be used to derive the categorical imperatives (morally-binding duties). This capacity is unique in the human being in the sense that a person is though subjected to causality of life, natural or social; one is tempted to use hypothetical moral reasoning to be a useful social animal. But being consequentialist may be useful in many sense, but when it comes to conceive the freedom, it must be harmonized with the universal morality. This is how Kantian world was conceived as a world of autonomous human being, who is more than an animate object or more than an animal governed by instincts. Human's dignity is upheld in the moral worthiness of action itself irrespective of thinking about consequences. Thus, freedom governed by pious motives and realized to achieve certain end are two different approached towards freedoms. Kant, unlike, Hobbes, Bentham and Rousseau, found inner source of freedom in pure-practical reasoning. The Maxim that justice must be done even Heaven falls is the Kantian way of approaching the question of freedom and justice. 


There is another approached developed by Rousseau, who investigated this question quite a long time. Rousseau of early age was a naturalist and of latter time a conventionalist. One Rousseau finds noble savage as agile spirit and returning towards nature is the way to break the shackles in which human being is trapped in. Another Rousseau finds refuge in the social contract, whereas surrendering the rights to all meant to surrender to none. He said nothing new but his way of saying set everything on fire. As an impressive writer, he was puzzled with the question of liberty and morality, or individuality and authority. It is often believed that freedom is constrained when authority is invoked. Rousseau found freedom in the legitimate excercise of powers in authority and vice-versa. For him, human being without liberty is merely a chattel. Thus, it can't be compromised. At the same time, virtue and morality are quintessential in the realisation of freedom. Absolute freedom is no freedom. It is reasonable freedom ensures equal freedom to all. Thus, authority is required to restrict the freedom so as to transform natural liberty into civil liberty. Natural liberty endangers weak and makes a lion reign the day. It is civil liberty, a restricted liberty ensures liberty for all. This is how a similar problem was approached by Rousseau through a negotiated method to construct the freedom what we conceive in the modern Constitutional Scheme.

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