Human Freedom: Its Ontological Basis
Supposing an ontological basis for human freedom, Nkechi Ezeanyino in her article “Human Freedom: Its Ontological Basis” maintains that human freedom is a part of the essence of man and man becomes aware of his freedom through experience. In her argument, she appeals to the scholastic metaphysical paradigm of man as a composite of body and soul. However, her argument is faulty for two reasons. Firstly, she assumes a revelation-based paradigm from the scholastics in addressing contemporary problems surrounding human freedom. Secondly, although she grounds human freedom in the human soul, she fails to clearly articulate the nature of the soul. Besides, insofar as our actions and desires are conditioned by our contingency, dependence, finitude and past experiences, there cannot even be any grounds for supposing that man is free.
Keywords: basis, freedom, human, ontological