Necessity is the inherent law of development of nature and society that does not depend on man’s consciousness. Freedom is a state of human activity that is achieved based on the conscious knowledge of necessity, i.e., laws, and the dynamic reshaping of the world based on such knowledge. As objective necessity, laws are forced upon human activity. Man is capable of knowing and exploiting the laws of development of nature and society and achieving freedom. The relation between freedom and necessity runs through the existence and development of mankind from beginning to end and this relation constitutes an eternal contradiction between human existence and development. Engels pointed out: “Freedom does not consist in any dreamt-of independence from natural laws, but in the knowledge of these laws, and in the possibility this gives of systematically making them work towards definite ends.”
Article Length: 2,541 characters
Own the print edition of The Great Dictionary of Marxism for unrestricted study and reference.
