What Is Freedom?
I have been asking myself what is the meaning of freedom? For our 4th of July Independence day, we celebrate our independence from Great Britain.
The Continental Congress voted for independence on July 2nd, while the Declaration was formalized and adopted on July 4th.
We celebrate being free to manage our own nation's affairs, to stand on our own, and create the kind of nation we deem right.
We must ask, then, what is the right kind of nation, and the right kind of freedom?
The essay written in 1784 by Immanuel Kant, "An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment?" expands upon freedom and independence, with a twist.
What is enlightenment? it is the emergence of a person from "his self imposed immaturity," while immaturity is the "inability to use our own understanding without guidance from another." And to elucidate further, it is the ability to think and reflect outside the box of the collective culture.
But of course, as all things Kantian, it is not as straight forward as we think.
Kant is not suggesting a revolution, anger, and 'doing our own thing' - he is suggesting the need to study and further our knowledge, take the time to understand what is going on in our own lives, in our nation's life, and the lives of others. Not to blindly follow the news, media, or the norms of the day.
Remember that in Kant's timeline, the Church and King were the rulers, the law makers, and the judges. Certainly, it was not a system that promoted people think for themselves.
The crux of the message in What is Enlightenment is Freedom - while in Kant's time the Church dictated how to think about life, God, morals, and everything in between, and the King told his subjects (notice here I am not using the word citizens) exactly how to think and behave in a 'lawful way,' it was philosophy that mused and argued for life outside the box.
In fact, the King demanded that Kant does not write about the need to emerge out of immaturity and into the light of free thinking, and the Church threatened him as well, and demanded he will not further publish essays about religion, morals, and freedom.
At Mature Peace Research Institute, we study freedom and the consciousness that allows all citizens of the world to be free, at peace, and thriving. I utilize the theory I have built with the most important building block of Kant's categorical imperative: to uphold the dignity of every human being. That is the universal law we all need to pay attention to and enact.
I celebrate Independence Day by being thankful for our freedom, and our ability to create and recreate the nation we love and call home.
Happy Fourth of July.
Yours as Always,
Dohrea
Happy Fourth of July!