Freiheit

Freedom is a fundamental concept of European culture that has been particularly successful. However, it is subject to a cultural imprint that can easily be forgotten when believing in the global triumph of freedom. This fundamental cultural imprint becomes visible when looking at the history of the concept of freedom. The guiding idea of this volume is to analyze historical forms from antiquity to the present: a two-and-a-half-thousand-year history in which the discourse on freedom has undergone significant shifts. The interdisciplinary approach, which considers both the conceptual and pragmatic aspects, seeks to overcome the usual separations from which separate discursive traditions have developed—depending on whether general conditions of possibility, historical realizations, or current regulatory forms of freedom are examined. The approach of the series also includes an external perspective, represented here by the USA, where freedom still constitutes a core part of self-understanding, as well as the modern East Asian cultures.