Bogoslovska smotra, Vol. 85 No. 4, 2015.
Original scientific paper
The Contemporary Concept of Freedom and its Consequences for Christian Praxis
Nenad Malović
orcid.org/0000-0001-6986-3582
; Catholic Faculty of Theology, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Starting from freedom as the basic value of contemporary society, the article first offers an overview of main philosophical debates on freedom: compatibilism and incompatibilism. The author shows that many antagonisms between various positions exist because of different understandings of concepts of freedom and determinism. A special attention is given to contemporary tendency towards determinism based on results of research into the human brain. After that, a reader’s attention is drawn to the modern separation between freedom and norm, as well as internal and external freedom, which lead to an abstract concept of freedom within Liberalism of Enlightenment with its demand for separating freedom from any kind of conditioning, primarily from the state or the Church. Since the concrete freedom is in its essence moral freedom that is being realised in a free act of moral decision and responsibility, this article also reflects on Kant’s understanding of freedom, especially as it pertains to reaching personal happiness. The author shows that one’s own happiness cannot be raised to the status of a fundamental determinant of will, because this is opposed to the principle of morality. In continuation, the article shows, in light of previous reflections, consequences of the human being’s demand for freedom and autonomy in today’s society and culture, especially in relation to Christian understanding of freedom. As an occasion for this reflection, the author uses the speech held by Benedict XVIth on March 7, 2008, to participants of the general assembly of the Pontifical Council for Culture. The author concludes that the diagnosis given in the speech is not a reason to be pessimistic, but an opportunity for Christianity’s new self-reflection.
Keywords
determinism; freedom and norm; Kant, secularisation; Christian praxis
Hrčak ID:
151361
URI
Publication date:
18.1.2016.
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