ABSTRACT
Modern society cannot be imagined without the concept of freedom. It was central to the philosophies of enlightenment thinkers, such as Immanuel Kant and Georg W. F. Hegel, as well as John Locke and Adam Smith. One interpretation of the concept of freedom relates to the autonomy of individuals to reason and decide. This autonomy includes the freedom to decide on religious matters, freedom of speech, the freedom to negotiate and sign a contract, to buy, sell, and own property, and the freedom from being told by others what to do and how to live. According to critics, the liberal interpretation of freedom is an ideological deception. Half a century ago, philosopher Herbert Marcuse observed that mass society had appropriated the vocabulary of the enlightenment, including the concepts of freedom and equality, and puts this vocabulary to use in a way that constrains rather than enables independent thinking and human emancipation.
