November 2019

THE FOURTH SOCRATES CAFE IN SARAJEVO: FREEDOM



At the fourth Socrates Cafe in Sarajevo, held on November 21st, 2019, we discussed about freedom. Adem Olovčić, Master of Philosophy, lecturer at International Burch University, was the facilitator of the Cafe. Participants considered whether people were free before the first mention of freedom and when we found a definition of freedom; they wondered if freedom can be reached and whether it depends on our opinion of it. They also quoted G. W. F. Hegel "A man who does not think for himself is not free man". However, there are also opinions that freedom equals utopia, and they emphasized the fact that freedom is (was) different at different times and did not have the same weight. They also questioned why it is not the same in America, Egypt or Bosnia and Herzegovina; and whether laws restrict freedom or direct us to act morally. What they agree on is that it is hard to believe that a person is free when he or she is constantly forced to receive validation from his environment, otherwise he or she feels insecure and anxious.