FREEDOM FROM WHAT? FREEDOM OF THOUGHT, FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE, AND FREEDOM OF RELIGION IN THE CONTEXT OF POWER
FREEDOM FROM WHAT? FREEDOM OF THOUGHT, FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE, AND FREEDOM OF RELIGION IN THE CONTEXT OF POWER

Summary/Abstract: This conceptual paper explores the complex relationship between power and freedom, with special reference to freedom of thought, freedom of conscience, and freedom of religion. Starting from a relational definition of power as “action upon action” (Foucault, 1982), and a logical definition of freedom as “of something, from something, to do something” (MacCallum, 1967), I suggest two original typologies of power and, respectively, freedom – in interconnection. Fully restoring cognition, emotion, volition, and the self to this model moreover informs a universal principle of legitimacy, a dynamic network of integrated interaction, and the conceptual relationship between thought, conscience, and religion themselves.

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