Freedom is a complex and abstract concept, but in general, it refers to a person’s ability to act for themselves, without external coercion or oppressive restrictions, manifesting as a fundamental right of self-determination and individual and social choice within the law. This concept encompasses several dimensions, such as freedom of expression, thought, religion, and association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Concepts and Dimensions of Freedom <\/p>\n\n\n\n
– Absence of Coercion <\/p>\n\n\n\n
– Autonomy and Self-Determination<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– Freedom of Expression <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other Freedoms: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Includes the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion, assembly, association, and professional freedom; unfortunately, in the Western world and beyond, for various reasons, all or the vast majority are limited or even censored. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Freedom in Western Society (individualism)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– Fundamental Right: Freedom is an essential human right and a valued asset, being one of the main reasons for political struggles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
– Political Context: In a society that is tending towards (I emphasize tending towards, because there are minorities who, through lobbying, prevail over the majority) democracy, freedom is the state of not being under the oppressive control of authority, allowing citizens to live and express themselves freely. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
– Legal Restrictions: The exercise of freedom is not unlimited; it can be restricted by law when it clashes with other fundamental rights or protected public or lobbying interests. The latter is still, in practice, restricted to the politically correct lobbying of minorities or ideological or economic interests. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Freedom is a multifaceted concept that guarantees the autonomy and capacity for action of an individual. It is a fundamental right that allows for individual expression and choice, but it must be exercised responsibly, within the limits established by law for the protection of society and the rights of all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A real problem is what the limits are, because someone’s excessive freedom will always clash with another’s freedom. This is a latent conflict, especially when someone jealous of their “rights” tries to impose or simply ignore others, whether due to excessive egocentrism, narcissism, lack of empathy, lack of ethical values, or even mental dogma. Interestingly, I have observed that those who most defend “their freedom” are precisely those who disrespect and most try to limit or even suppress the freedom of others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The solution to this problem involves changing the concept, that is, duty first (similar to military regulations and laws), but reformulated correctly. For example: “we all have a duty to respect others” will have a profound impact, because the rights of some become, for them, the result of an obligation of theirs and of others, that is: “you are only respected if, and only if, you first respect others, however much you disagree.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s important to note that this is a concept (and its scope) that varies by culture (nationality and even region), age, social or academic background, profession, psychological profiles, and even the person’s gender. Individual freedom can also clash with social or societal values, as there are cultures (the vast majority on the planet) where the collective takes precedence over the individual. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Therefore, you can apply my interpretation: it is something very precious that we should use with moderation, caution, responsibility, and always with great empathy for others, not considering others to be identical to me, but rather to be very different or even opposite, and expecting (and if necessary, demanding) similar treatment from them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Freedom is a complex and abstract concept, but in general, it refers to a person’s ability to act for themselves, without external coercion or oppressive restrictions, manifesting as a fundamental right of self-determination and individual and social choice within the law. This concept encompasses several dimensions, such as freedom of expression, thought, religion, and association. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-my-thoughts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitormsalmeida.pt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitormsalmeida.pt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitormsalmeida.pt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitormsalmeida.pt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitormsalmeida.pt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1267"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vitormsalmeida.pt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1267\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1268,"href":"https:\/\/vitormsalmeida.pt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1267\/revisions\/1268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitormsalmeida.pt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitormsalmeida.pt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitormsalmeida.pt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}