What is the connection between freedom and necessity? Freedom and necessity: correlation and problem

Freedom is the desire for the infinite essence of man. It is a person's desire to overcome internal and external boundaries that interfere with the needs of the human spirit for absolute self-expression.

Necessity is something you can not do without. This is an objective requirement of the real world to the form of human existence as a natural phenomenon, limited in time and space.

Freedom and necessity are two sides of the same coin. It is immanent to human nature two qualitative characteristics, which largely determine the form of life in society. Consider these categories in their dialectical unity. What is the connection between freedom and necessity in human life?

The nature of freedom

Freedom is one of the central categories of the humanitarian field of knowledge. Freedom is the ability to choose the path of self-realization of a person in the life of creativity, society. This quality determines the degree of social maturity of a person. The ability to make a choice in the pursuit of their purpose for the benefit of themselves and society, without the threat of infringing the freedom of other members.

Freedom is always associated with knowing the necessity of limiting the degree of freedom. Indeed, in reality, freedom is always limited by opportunities, conditions, ways, needs and other external and internal constraints. In order to understand the relationship between freedom and necessity, it is necessary to disclose the nature of the latter concept.

Necessity: what is it manifested for man?

Necessity is a philosophical category that, in the classical sense, acts as a stable connection between phenomena and facts in nature and does not depend on the will and desire of people. To understand the nature of this category, you should familiarize yourself with the history of the concept formation.

Necessity manifests itself as hostile to the human spirit, if it does not subject it to comprehension. In the case when necessity is recognized as the absolute beginning of nature, such an approach leads to determinism. It is the absolutization of objective laws of nature, into which a person "inscribes". Therefore, such an approach denies a person's ability to be free. Everything is predetermined, and the choice of a person is determined by external circumstances. Freedom and necessity in this case act as mutually exclusive concepts. Consider these concepts in unity.

Dialectics of the concepts of freedom and necessity in the history of philosophy

The connection between freedom and necessity is the subject of analysis from the ancient period of human thought and culture. It is like a scales - with balance it allows you to organically fit into any form of vital activity. If these scales swing in the direction of freedom - open space for voluntarism. If in the direction of necessity - fatalism, inevitability and predetermination in life, that in its extreme manifestation depreciates the concept of freedom.

Only in their synchrony is observed a delicate balance. What is the connection between freedom and necessity? If to answer in the traditional materialistic approach, freedom is treated as a conscious necessity. What does this mean? And how does this contradictory proposition reveal the connection and interdependence of concepts?

Freedom is a conscious necessity

The most obvious contradiction between freedom and necessity is the analysis of relations between society (state) and the individual. On the one hand - personal needs of man. On the other hand, public regulations on the boundaries of individual freedom in the interests of respecting the freedoms of other members of society.

The history of our state with a totalitarian system of government has shown that experimenting with personal violence in order to please society leads to the degradation of both the individual and the state. It is the value of a particular person that should be a priority. A state mechanism for regulating the interests of members of society should be economic in nature and respect human rights.

A conscious need for a person has a positive message if the external necessity that limits his freedom is perceived and realized not simply as an "objective evil" that needs to be accepted, but in this necessity a benefit for the individual opens.

Escape from Freedom

Not always freedom is a value, paradoxical though it may be. The well-known psychologist Erich Fromm created a masterpiece called "Escape from Freedom", in which he analyzes the way of choosing "unfreedom", and therefore, an intuitive or conscious renunciation of responsibility for the choice.

For example, such a social phenomenon as emancipation. Or the so-called "freedom" of women in the ways of their self-realization. Often this phenomenon can be traced back to the regularity-a greater degree of women's responsibility in society, both for the family and for their own professional careers. Such social metamorphoses form freedom and necessity, responsibility problems For violation of their harmonious equality fall on the subject of activity.

Responsibility of the person for freedom of choice

The greater the degree of freedom of a person, the higher his responsibility for the results of free behavior. A choice is a principle of freedom, the volume is limited by a range of the public contract - the law, norms. It is during the implementation of the choice that the relationship between freedom and necessity is demonstrated. It has a proportional relationship.

The responsibility of a person in society comes in accordance with legal norms with the coming of age, at the age of 18. It is from this age that the individual is fully responsible for his choice. The choice always has consequences. Even refusal of a choice, inactivity - also a choice and presence for it of the responsibility of the person in a society.

The assertion that freedom is a conscious necessity emphasizes the responsibility of the individual to himself and society for the results of his activity. Only a high degree of civic, personal self-consciousness forms a free society.

The philosophical and ethical categories of freedom and necessity in the system of humanitarian knowledge have a logical nature and, at first sight, seem far from the practical sphere of life activity. In fact, they are the fundamental principle of social self-organization.