ABSTRACT
The right to freedom is the right of the individual to decide about himself and his personal domain, to set his personal goals and to pursue them through actions chosen by himself and for which he is responsible; in other words, freedom consists of the absence of coercion (by other people).1
However, freedom is also often defined in another way (at first sight only marginally different), namely as the material ability to realize all of one’s desires and to be capable of doing everything one wants. We find as early as in the writings of Voltaire (1766/1965, p. 887) a brief definition that encapsulates the essence of ‘freedom’: ‘Être véritablement libre, c’est pouvoir. Quand je peux faire ce que je veux, voilà ma liberté’. This concept also provides the foundation for the guiding belief or idea of the ideal communist society, which is supposed to make it possible ‘heute dies, morgen jenes zu tun, morgens zu jagen, nachmittags zu fischen, abends Viehzucht zu treiben, nach dem Essen zu kritisieren, wie ich gerade Lust habe; ohne je Jäger, Fischer, Hirt oder Kritiker zu werden’ (Marx/Engels 1845/1953, p. 30), i.e. ‘to do this today, that tomorrow, hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, breed animals in the evening, criticize after dinner as I happen to feel like; without ever becoming a hunter, fisherman, animal breeder or critic’.
