Another significant mind in the development of freedom is John Locke, the man our modern society is based on his idea of “the natural liberty of man [and freedom] from any superior power on earth, and not to be under the will or legislative authority of man, but to have only the law of nature for his rule” (For Freedom’s Sake). Locke’s beliefs on freedom show the changing of times and that expansion on Plato’s views on Freedom had begun to advance around the this time.
Time allowed the belief in self to take the wheel, mostly to insure that freedom could soon be achieved. As time passed society began to adopt a little something called righteousness, in other words we started to strongly advocate whatever our personal beliefs were, this was the start of metaphysical freedom that wasn’t a personal journey but a journey shared with multiple people. This is mostly ion regards to religious beliefs, and ultimately it created a fight against freedom and for it a the same time. Things like religious oppression came into play heavily, those of us who felt that their religion was the one true path certainly made it known; somehow we came to the milestones with freedom that we did in part to those who felt they were being oppressed, not that they wouldn’t themselves go about the conflicts differently.
It all came down to, “what is freedom to you?” and “what justifies your reasoning ?”; is it religious right or intellectual right? Philosophers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson saw freedom of mind as the only true freedom and this was only achieved through the dependance of self, as he explains in this quote from his famous essay Self-Reliance, “He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world. I remember an answer which when quite young I was prompted to make to a valued adviser, who was wont to importune me with the dear old doctrines of the church. On my saying, What have I to do with the sacredness of traditions, if I live wholly from within? my friend suggested, — “But these impulses may be from below, not from above.” I replied, “They do not seem to me to be such; but if I am the Devil’s child, I will live then from the Devil.” No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature.”. This particle quote shows the changing of position on freedom, see it went from the belief that religious mind was the true freedom to be achieved and that literal freedom was most virtuous. The cornerstone of Emerson’s movements was Individualism, a doctrine that the interests of the individual are or ought to be ethically paramount, this belief was the driving factor behind Plato’s beliefs which means this serves as a progressive successor for his original teachings…
