Experienced freedom and moral freedom in the child's consciousness

Frederik J. Buytendijk

pp. 195-207

in: Joseph Kockelmans (ed), Phenomenological psychology, Berlin, Springer, 1987

Abstract

No other word has so much power to divert the mind of man from the fatigues of toil, from cares, from the hazards of emotional involvements, from all selfishness and meanness, as the word freedom. The magic power of this word is so great that the burning desire for freedom is not merely an appeal to a well-determined concept, but it opens a door to another climate. In the name of freedom the most sublime sacrifices and the most revolting injustices have been committed. No one knows exactly what freedom is, but all consider it as the sovereign good. Humanity's history and each particular man's history are exclusively determined by their relation to freedom.