For millennia since the prohibitions, power and morality appeared, the concept of freedom has existed. Some people define it as the absence of the above factors. Others are like a person’s power over their actions, provided that they do not harm other people. Still others believe that freedom is a subjective concept and depends on the aspirations of each individual person.
So what is freedom? Let's try to figure it out.
Freedom in philosophy is defined as the state of the subject in which he can independently determine his life path, his goals, opinions and means. That is, in fact, this concept brings together all the judgments given above. The freedom of each person depends on the degree to which they accept it as a life value. That is why we see so many different approaches to its understanding and self-realization. And therefore, all people differently understand what freedom is.
It is customary to distinguish between two freedoms: positive and negative. The second involves the independence of the individual from any external or internal manifestations that interfere with its implementation. Getting it is possible by eliminating them. Positive freedom is achieved through the spiritual development of a person and his achievement of inner harmony. Some philosophers believe that it is impossible to achieve this freedom without going through the desire for the negative. Such a division does not contradict the integrity of the concept. On the contrary, it helps to expand our ideas about what freedom is.
The freedom of the person is directly related to the freedom of creativity, since the second is a natural consequence and expression of the first. Therefore, many writers and artists who did not receive the opportunity to create their own works due to censorship prohibitions, were opposed to the authorities. But it is worth distinguishing between freedom of expression and not confuse it with the freedom of manifestations of aggression. A ban on the latter is not a restriction of personality. On the contrary, he was created to protect her freedom. Such prohibitions will exist until they pass into human consciousness as a natural necessity.
Nowadays, people are increasingly looking for freedom not from external factors, but within themselves. Modern man began to understand in a new way what freedom is. And he tries to achieve it through inner harmony , self-determination and expression in the areas accessible to him. This view is close to the concept of positive freedom, but it also contains echoes of the negative. It was formed in connection with the weakening of social prohibitions. Therefore, now internal freedom comes to the fore - the achievement of the integrity of the personality and the possibility of its expression.
So, almost every generation forms a new look at what freedom is. And one cannot say that one of them is wrong. After all, each person is free to give his own answer to this question and give this word a meaning close to it. For some, freedom is an opportunity to express one’s opinion, for some it is the absence of a ban on creativity, for some it is harmony with the world around us ... But in any case, it plays an important role for each individual person and society in whole.