Open access
THE PROBLEM OF FREEDOM AND THE IDEA OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Łukasz Rąb1
ECOLOGY – FROM IDEA TO PRACTICE
Publication language: Polish
Journal article
Transformations No. 1–2 (88–89) 2016, Publication date: 13 May 2016
Keywords: freedom, social contract, sustainable development, globalization
Abstract The purpose of this article is to show that freedom is the sine qua non of sustainable development, and that it is part of its axiological foundation. According to Leszek Gawor freedom in this context is understood most often as the degree of mastery of nature or expanding the scope of civil liberties and freedom of thought. But it is not so that sustainable development leads straight to freedom and civil society. It develops within the globalization process, and its aims are often different to those of sustainable development, thus freedom is not its main goal. Sustainable development as a task, however, has this advantage that it must adopt the idea of freedom if it is to integrate these entities, which correspond with it. The article presents various aspects of liberty, which have appeared in the history of philosophy and social thought. In particular, it will focus on liberal and neoliberal tradition, two concepts of freedom of Isaiah Berlin and communitarian „critique” of liberalism.
Politechnika Śląska, Wydział Organizacji i Zarządzania
E-mail: lukaszrab@gmail.com