الحرية و معوقات الفعل : التأسيس لمفهوم ليبرالي للحرية في الفكر العربي

Abstract EN

This paper explores, and ultimately finds no justification for, the idea that it is not possible to root the liberal concept of freedom in the Arab-Islamic cultural context.

It examines this supposition from two main angles: First, that the liberal understanding of freedom has a metaphysical basis, which itself has various implications in a range of areas.

The paper shows that this basis is also present in ancient philosophical thought—both Greek and Arab-Islamic.

In the context of an imposed Arab modernity, there is now (or has been since the period of the Nahda) a chance for this metaphysical conception of freedom to express itself within modern and contemporary Arab political philosophy.