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Freedom: East and West

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Abstract

This paper explains some of the uses of the word ‘freedom’ in Western as well as in Indian philosophy. Regarding the psychological concept of freedom or free will, this paper focuses on the distinction between fatalism, determinism, types of compatibilism, and libertarianism. Indian philosophers, by and large, are compatibilists, although some minor systems, such as Śākta Āgama, favor a type of libertarianism. From the Indian perspective the form of life of human beings has also been mentioned in the discussion of free will. Regarding metaphysical freedom, I discuss the views of the Bhagavad Gītā and Swami Vivekananda in Sect. III. K.C. Bhattacharyya, a neo-Advaita Vedāntin, has discussed degrees of freedom of the subject at several levels. According to him, spiritual progress lies in the progressive realization of the freedom of the subject. I compare his view with the classical Advaita concept of freedom. I have also addressed the question of whether freedom from suffering can be realized at social and global levels. In this context I have mentioned some of the interpretations of the great saying ‘I am Brahman,’ and how freedom can be realized at the global level by using the Advaita concept of ‘oneness.’

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Notes

  1. Shanbhag, D.N., ‘Concept of Dharma and Dharmaśāstra’, in Dharmaśāstra and Social Awareness, edited by V.N. Jha, Indian Book Centre, Delhi, 1996, pp 35-36

  2. Shastri, D.C., ‘Bhāratīya dharmanīti o tāra kayekati dika’, in Bhāratīya Dharmanīti, edited by Amita Chatterjee, Allied Publishers, Calcutta, 1998, pp 29-30

  3. Chapple, C., Karma and Creativity, State University of New York Press, Albany, 1986, p 34

  4. Ibid., pp 96-97

  5. Ibid., pp 110-111

  6. Ibid., pp 76-77

  7. Kunjunni Raja, K., Indian Theories of Meaning, The Adyar Library and Research Centre, Madras, 1969, p 278

  8. Shastri, D.C., Aspects of Indian Psychology, Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, West Bengal, 1988, pp 36-39

  9. Watson, G., ‘Free Will’, in A Companion to Metaphysics, edited by J. Kim and E. Sosa, Blackwell, Oxford, 1995, p 179

  10. Edwards, P., Hard and Soft Determinism, in Determinism and Freedom in the Age of Modern Science, ed. S. Hook, New York University Institute of Philosophy, 1961

  11. Schlick, M., ‘The Problem of Ethics’, in Readings in Ethical Theory, ed. W. Sellers and J. Hospers, Appleton-Century-Crofts, New York,1952, p 150

  12. Kant, I., Groundwork of Metaphysics of Morals, translated by H.J. Paton, Harper Torchbooks, London, 1956.

  13. Ryle, G., The Concept of Mind, Barnes & Noble Books, London, 1949

  14. Broad, C.D., ‘Determinism, Indeterminism, and Libertarianism’, in Free Will and Determinism, ed. Bernard Berofsky, Harper & Row, New York, 1966, p 159

  15. Shastri, D.C., Aspects of Indian Psychology, p X; see also J.L.Shaw, ‘Man and Freedom-A Comparative Study’, in Man and Freedom, ed. S. K. Sen, Indian Academy of Philosophy, 2001

  16. The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol 1, Advaita Ashram, p. 301

  17. Ibid., Vol.1, p 110

  18. Ibid., Vol. 1, p 57, 90

  19. The Bhagavad Gītā, translated by Juan Mascaro, Penguin Classics, England, 1962

  20. Bhattacharyya, K.C., Studies in Philosophy, ed. G. Bhattacharyya, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1983, p 388

  21. Ibid., p 389

  22. Ibid., p 443

  23. Ibid., p 443

  24. Ibid., p 476

  25. Ibid., p 476

  26. Ibid., p 476

  27. Human Development Report 2006: Beyond Scarcity, Power, Poverty, and the Global Water Crisis, The United Nations Development Programme, New York, 2006.

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Correspondence to Jaysankar L. Shaw.

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Shaw, J.L. Freedom: East and West. SOPHIA 50, 481–497 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11841-011-0237-5

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