What Is Freedom?

What is Freedom?

The definition of Freedom has traditionally been delimited by proponents of determinism. Hard determinists even contend that there is no freedom. They claim that human behavior can be programmed and manipulated as if man is only one of objects around the environment.

Man is therefore not determined by the physical world. He can control his bodily movements. And through his body, man controls the physical world. And since man is the one in charge of the physical world through his body, then man must be free from the physical world itself.

However, this Platonic refutation of determinism may not be enough. Determinists could soften their stance and claim that “even its man is free to choose, he is not free to choose what he wants to choose”

“Unlike hard determinism who appeal to merely physiological factors to refute the existence of freedom, soft determinism basically appeal to physiological and sociological theories to delimit the scope of freedom.

Basically, Skinner claims that human freedom is irrelevant to the development of the human person because human behavior can ultimately be conditioned by means of reward and punishments. Like pigeons and monkeys which can be trained to choose levers and buttons in response to reward and punishments, Skinnerians claim that human behavior can also be trained by means of reinforcements.

As human being, man can always refuse to follow the stimulus-response mechanisms which Skinner assumed. This is refusal to be determined by stimulus-response mechanisms can only be understood under the postulate of the postulate of the existence of freedom.

Whys is freedom important?

While it is essential to define the scope of freedom in contradistinction which determinism, the more interesting question to ask is the concrete direction which this power to choose is aimed. Without the concrete embodiment of an actual choice,