Is Freedom Nothing?

Perušić, Luka (author)

This paper raises and discusses the possibility that freedom and nothing are the same phenomenon. Consequently, whether this identification is true or false affects the fundamental understanding of the nature of free will and tests whether moral life is absurd or not. In the introductory section, the problem and the methodology are briefly presented. In the first two parts, the problem of the nature of freedom is explored and its similarity to nothing is brought closer, first through the debate on free will and then through Kant’s cosmological theory of freedom. Having the similarity given in brief, the next two parts explore the relation between freedom and nothing, first by examining the problem of the existence of nothing in order to further emphasize the convergence of the two concepts, and then by defining the results of the relevant possibilities for their sameness. The concluding suggestions are that: (1) positively oriented theories of freedom in the Western philosophical tradition should be carefully revised, because the absorption of nothing into freedom either relegates them to the disposition of determinism, rendering the concept impossible, or challenges to accept it on the basis of personal belief, rather than justified argument; and (2) a universal solution to the problem of free will most likely require close communication with the Eastern philosophical tradition, which has made significant theoretical contributions to the problem of the relation between freedom and nothing.

• Language: English
• Keywords: freedom, nothing, free will, nothingness, morality, action, Immanuel Kant
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 01.09.2025
• Number of pages: Str. 95-133
• Numbering: Vol. 13, no. 3
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-178285
• ISSN: 2232-5131
• eISSN: 2350-4226
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4312/as.2025.13.3.95-133
• Publication date in RUL: 22.01.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Asian studies
• Publisher: Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete, Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete, Založba Univerze v Ljubljani
• ISSN: 2232-5131
• COBISS.SI-ID: 265206272

Licences

• License: CC BY-SA 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
• Description: This Creative Commons license is very similar to the regular Attribution license, but requires the release of all derivative works under this same license.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Ali je svoboda nič?

Abstract

Prispevek izhaja iz predpostavke, po kateri sta svoboda in nič en in isti pojav. Pokaže, da imata resničnost ali neresničnost te istovetnosti neposreden vpliv na temeljno razume-vanje narave svobodne volje. V tem kontekstu avtor preverja, ali je moralno življenje potemtakem absurdno. Uvodni del članka na kratko predstavi obravnavani problem in metodologijo raziskave. V prvih dveh poglavjih sta obravnavana problem narave svobode in njena podobnost z ničem, najprej v razpravi o svobodni volji in nato na podlagi Kan-tove kozmološke teorije svobode. Po kratkem prikazu te podobnosti se avtor v naslednjih dveh poglavjih poglobi v razmerje med svobodo in ničem – najprej z obravnavo proble-ma obstoja niča, s čimer še dodatno poudari njuno konvergenco, nato pa z opredelitvijo možnih posledic morebitne istovetnosti. Sklepne trditve so: (1) pozitivno naravnane teor-ije svobode v zahodni filozofski tradiciji bi bilo treba natančno revidirati, saj absorpcija niča v pojem svobode te teorije bodisi podredi determinizmu – kar bi izničilo pojem svobode – bodisi zahteva njegovo sprejetje zgolj na ravni osebnega prepričanja, torej brez racionalne utemeljitve; in (2) univerzalna rešitev problema svobodne volje bo na-jverjetneje zahtevala poglobljen dialog z vzhodno filozofsko tradicijo, ki je pomembno prispevala k osvetlitvi problema razmerja med svobodo in ničem.

• Keywords: svoboda, nič, svobodna volja, ničnost, morala, delovanje, Immanuel Kant