Sloboda bez bratstva

Abstract

Theoretical analyses have traditionally related the notion of freedom to politics, law and economy. An individual was perceived free only if he had the right to act politically as equal with other individuals in community. This thesis, which originates from the time of Aristotle, shows that freedom can be understood only in the context of politics. Traditionally, freedom was related to an individual’s economic activities, too. Liberal theorists believed that freedom lies exclusively in the free production and possession of the products of one’s own work. This idea influenced the development of the concept of free market and liberal economy as the foundations of a free society. Hannah Arendt transposed this theory by claiming that freedom must be interpreted beyond any natural necessity and, even more importantly, reciprocity. Following Arendt’s, but also Heidegger’s, line of thought, poststructuralist theoreticians Nancy and Derrida hold that freedom should be interpreted from freedom itself without referring to other experiences of human activity. For Derrida, freedom is breaking up with every conditionality and reciprocity. It cannot be subsumed under the notion of equality but must be understood as the possibility of the other to remain the other in his dissimilarity and secrecy. Key words: freedom, brotherhood, incommensurability, equality, the political.