Decoding Kantian Concept of Freedom

Abstract

Man not only values  that which simply satisfies a desire but also has the capacity to evaluate choices in terms of their ability in promoting a good life. Kant argued that rational beings are ends in themselves not because they have reason but because they have freedom. According to Kant, it is not wild liberty but pure, rational concept of moral autonomy that enables a human being to access the universal,  unconditional, universalisable supreme principle of morality.i.e to be able to choose one's maxims of action which perfectly tune with law of duty. He recognises himself as a self-legislator rather than just being blindly governed by external compulsion. Kant considered freedom as the highest value in man's life which attributes moral self or dignity to a sentient being.