The Challenge of Freedom Between the Determinists and the Existentialists

Abstract

Freedom ordinarily suggests a condition of total release from bondage or any form of restriction. Freedom, which was influential among the existentialist philosophers especially Jean-Paul Sartre, denotes the capacity to act without interference or limitation, liberty of action, or the attribute of not being subject to the dictates of fate or necessity, as well as the strength of self-determination, preparedness, or willingness.  The freedom crisis is what is facing our age today. This work is an attempt to expose Sartre’s notion of human freedom as well as a critical demonstration of the fact that man is free but not absolutely free, as virtually all his actions are being determined by some factors beyond his control as affirmed by Jean Jacque Rousseau, that “ man is born free, but everywhere in chains”.  However, this appears to deviate from Sartre's assertion that complete human freedom is a fundamental aspect of human life and the structure of man's being.  Sartre contends that human freedom is unbounded and unaffected by anything else because of this.  Nevertheless, after rigorously analyzing the concepts of freedom, the self as the object of freedom, the real self, and the genuine existence of man.  I would argue that although man is truly free, his freedom is in some circumstances, circumscribed. His actions can be influenced by other factors beyond his immediate control, such as civil authority, economic and environmental factors. Man is generally believed to be ontologically a free being, though not absolutely free beyond certain basic and obvious influences in the world. In order to have a clearer understanding of the subject matter of this research work, the approach to it shall be largely analytical, critical and evaluative