Merriam-Webster diction defines freedom as, "the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in a choice of action. "The most common related themes of freedom in todays society pertains to freedom of speech, freedom of press, and other freedoms we now take for granted stated in the Declaration of Independence. Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Immanuel Kant both put their philosophical views of freedom in their works: The Social Contract and The Grounding of Metaphysics of Morals. In the Social Contract, Rousseau primarily focuses on achieving freedom in a civil society and further analyzes freedom in a deeper perspective. Kant also dissects the idea of freedom in a moral sense in accord to rationality in human beings. In the Social Contract, Rousseau writes that freedom is achieved when individuals follow the social contract, which inevitably leads to individuals obeying themselves, thus being free; In the Grounding of Metaphysics of Morals, Kant writes that freedom is obtained by only rational beings that follow the moral law, as freedom is only a concoction from reason.
Rousseau begins with his famous quote, "Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains (Kindle Locations 384-385). " According to Rousseau, as humanity became more advanced, inequality became more prevalent due to developing advantages that not everyone has the opportunity to obtain. Rousseau's social contract was a new rendition to help fix the issues that were presented in previously flawed social contracts. Rousseau's social contract was the solution to the paradox of how "uniting himself to all, yet obeys himself alone, and remains as free as before. (Kindle Locations 267-268) " Rousseau describes that in the state of nature, mankind has complete freedom to do whatever he or she pleases, which Rousseau describes as natural liberty. An example of a natural liberty is to excrete waste in any location that your heart truly desires.