Two Dimensions Of Individual Freedom

Freedom is an important concept shared by philosophy and religion.Freedom under the inspection of the Western rationalist tradition is a kind of transcendental freedom.This kind of transcendental freedom is also regarded as an ability of the rational subject who is stripped of the two prescriptive natures of historicity and sociality.The emphasis on the rational subject has led to the absence of the existence of realistic individuals,and once this rationalist view of freedom enters the realm of human existence,there will be paradox.The criticism of this rational subject and freedom is the theme of the young Hegelians.Among them,Marx and Kierkegaard's examination and criticism of the rationalist view of freedom based on the reality of individual existence constitutes two dimensions of the reflections of the young Hegelians:the inward dimension and the social dimension.The different answers to the sphinx puzzle determine the different perceptions of individual freedom between Marx and Kierkegaard.In the reflection and criticism of Hegel's speculative being,Feuerbach's "species",and Stirner' s "ego",Marx proposed real individual,while Kierkegaard moved towards single individual.Whether it is a real individual or a single individual,it is not a speculative abstraction away from time,but an existent in time and society.Kierkegaard started the psychological analysis of individual existence.He believes that the reality of individual existence is precisely in the stipulation of time,and the most obvious manifestation is the instantaneity of existence.Kierkegaard emphasizes the single individual' s inwardness,subjectivity and existence-oriented moment,inward passion and decision.He defined the single individual as spirit,a combination of body and soul,infinite and finite,present and eternal,necessity and freedom.There is no doubt that the body,the infinite and the present are real,and the soul,the infinite,the eternal and the freedom are nothingness which is the prescriptiveness of existence and the transcendental consciousness of existence.Marx examines the existence of individuals from the perspective of social history.He emphasized the initiative of people,which is reflected in perceptual object activities.The reality of the individual depends on the social relationship he is in,and the regulation of the social relationship itself is inseparable from the specific production relations and social economic forms.Kierkegaard and Marx represent the internal and external tendencies of the young Hegel's understanding of the existent individual.Although Kierkegaard saw the finiteness and temporality of individual existence,he did not go out of the track of the inwardness.However,Marx's analysis of the individual pushes Kierkegaard's inner subject into the realm of sociality,initiative,practice,and history.In addition,Kierkegaard's psychological analysis of individual existence can constitute a supplement and extension to Marx.It is precisely because of their different understandings of individual that lead to their different perceptions of individual freedom.Corresponding to the single individual,Kierkegaard focuses on inwardness and spirituality to analyze the existence of individual freedom.The spirituality of individual determines that he is freedom,because the spirit can be aware of nothingness which produces anxiety.The anxiety that urges people to make decisions which is the manifestation of freedom,is the dizziness of freedom,that is,the possibility of freedom.The decision to open human history comes from Adam's sin.However,not everyone can make a decision in the dizziness of freedom,so there is an escape from freedom.Freedom is closely related to Being self,and the opposite of freedom refers to the state of self exists outside of oneself.Kierkegaard interpreted the situation of the times when people would rather be someone else than themselves from the perspectives of despair and abstraction.Kierkegaard reveals the dizziness of the individual in freedom,and Marx exposes the social reality root of the dizziness of freedom which indicates the nothingness experience of individual existence from the perspective of alienation,that is,the contingency of people in the capitalist exchange system.Marx pointed out that human consciousness is the possibility of freedom,while activity is the reality of freedom,a confirmation of freedom.Activities here are not pure thought activities but actual actions to transform the world.In the context of Marx,freedom and self-realization are even more closely related.In other words,people possess their own essence in a comprehensive way.Individual freedom and human activities explain each other.However,in the materialization("Sache")relationship consisting of commodities,currency,and capital,human freedom and even human self must be realized through the possession of things.In Marx's view,necessity must not be the opposite of freedom,but materialized rule.Marx went further into the economic inevitability of capitalist society and exposed the non-freedom state of human Beings enslaved by things.The different starting points determine their different attitudes towards abstract levelling and the rule of materialization.Kierkegaard appealed to inward passion and faith.He believed that only in the paradoxical faith can the freedom of eternal possibility be realized,and the key to this freedom is that the single individual must establish a certain inward relationship with God.In other words,self is set by God,and God and belief are the suspension of human reason.In self-reflection,the spirit can only grasp it as nothingness,that is,possibility.The single is to establish a relationship with the object of faith in the risk of uncertainty.However,Dostoevsky's questions about minority and majority in Religious Judge can constitute a challenge to Kierkegaard.Obviously,the paradoxical belief of suspending rationality cannot be accepted by most people,but are they destined to be freedom?Fortunately,Marx,standing on the position of the proletariat,questioned human freedom from the perspective of social history.He believes that the kingdom of freedom is the return of human nature,only in the kingdom of freedom can individual's freedom personality be realized,The transition from the kingdom of necessity to kingdom of freedom is based on the objective construction of human practice.However,practice is not the mystery of omnipotence.As long as there is action and practice,it will inevitably face many difficulties,It needs to withstand the invasion of hesitation,hesitation and despair,which makes inward passion very important.At this time,Kierkegaard's interpretation of inwardness and subjectivity may be useful.