Man and his Liberties

Authors

  • Władysław Zuziak Uniwersytet Papieski Jana Pawła II w Krakowie

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15633/lie.168

Abstract

In this paper I present the limitations for the development of human beings that result from the understanding of the term freedom which is present in some contemporary philosophical conceptions. Projects of negative freedom developed by liberalism, naturalism and postmodernism are successively discussed and, in the final part, confronted with Christian positive freedom. It is emphasized that each discussed proposition of negative freedom leads to further “enslavement” and only the freedom that is based on identification and affirmation of one’s values and aims can lead to an authentic, free and, at the same time, responsible individual development. Furthermore, such a freedom “opens” a person for the other people and provides a better basis for creating a just social order. The aim of this paper is also to prove, that such a conception of freedom is more coherent with the spontaneous, dynamic human nature than the defeatist views of some postmodern philosophers, and also, that it explains the achievements of human culture far better than they do.

However, in order to be legitimated, this conception needs reference to the transcendence. Without assuming a perspective of infinity, all our decisions would be meaningless. As human beings we a free to make a choice. Either to make decisions so that our lives and decisions will constitute a world of meaning, or, by escaping from decision making, we agree to chaos and uncertainty.

Author Biography

  • Władysław Zuziak, Uniwersytet Papieski Jana Pawła II w Krakowie

    ks. Władysław Zuziak – filozof i etyk, profesor tytularny nauk humanistycznych, rektor Uniwersytetu Papieskiego Jana Pawła II w Krakowie, kierownik Katedry Etyki na Wydziale Filozoficznym UPJPII. Członek Polskiego Towarzystwa Filozoficznego i ESSSAT-u (European Society for the Study of Science and Theology). W latach 2003–2008 przewodniczący sekcji europejskiej COMIUCAP-u (Conférence Mondiale des Institutions Universitaires Catholiques de Philosophie). Zainteresowania naukowe: filozofia człowieka, etyka, aksjologia, personalizm, filozofia francuska XX w., filozofia L. Lavelle’a. Ważniejsze publikacje: Dojrzewanie świadomości
    refleksyjnej w filozofii moralnej Georgesa Bastide’a i Jeana Naberta, Kraków 1998; Pytając o człowieka. Myśl filozoficzna Józefa Tischnera (red.), Kraków 2001; Społeczne perspektywy
    etyki, Kraków 2006; Aksjologia Louisa Lavelle’a wobec ponowoczesnego kryzysu wartości, Kraków 2012.

Issue cover

Downloads

Published

2013-09-09

Issue

Vol. 19 No. 1 (2013)

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2013 Władysław Zuziak

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

The following rules apply to copyright:

1. The author declares that he or she has full copyright to the work, and such copyright it is not limited to the extent applicable to this declaration, that the article is an original work and that it does not infringe any third-party rights.

2. The author agrees to a free-of-charge, non-exclusive and non-restricted use of the work by Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow i.e.:

  • to record and duplicate: make copies of the work by means of printing, reprography, magnetic or digital storage;
  • to circulate the original or the copies of the work (disseminate, lend or lease the original or copies thereof, publicly display, screen or make the work publicly available so that everyone is able to access it at the time and in place they wish to do so);
  • to include the work in a compilation;
  • the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow may grant sublicenses  Creative Commons Acknowledgement of authorship-Non-commercial use-Without derivative work 3.0 Poland
3. The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow makes the work available on the Journals Platform belonging to the University, according to the license Creative Commons Acknowledgement of authorship-Non-commercial use-Without derivative work 3.0 Poland. Accordingly, the author authorizes all interested parties to use the work on the following conditions:
  • the author and the title of the work will be listed,
  • the place of publication (name of the periodical and an Internet link to the originally published work),
  • the work will be distributed in a non-commercial way,
  • no derivative works will be created.

 The UPJPII Press does not waive any of its copyrights to any target group.

If you want to publish the text in Logos and Ethos, you must sign the license. However, the signing takes place at a later stage of publishing. Check the license: [license_en.pdf]