Abstract

The notion of freedom has a significant philosophical tradition, which becomes the subject of poetic analysis by Zbigniew Herbert. The poet refers to the ancient Greek concept of Ἀνάγκη, the goddess of necessity, who, like the Moirai or the Erinyes, decided about the course of human fate, thus excluding any individual right to freedom. By contrast, Thucydides, the author of "The Peloponnesian War", no longer sees the source of enslavement in metaphysical causes, but in the very nature of human being, who, driven by fear and personal greed, commits acts of aggression and crime. Herbert is aware of the limitations of human freedom, but he can also discern the possibility of inner self-liberation through the search for truth. An important contribution to the discussion is the concept of freedom as understood by Prof. I. Dąmbska, for whom freedom from is correlative to freedom to, especially when it is directed towards truth. Truth means freedom from false judgments. Freedom understood in this way, similarly to Socrates, Plato, or the Stoics, has an axiological character, because it implies striving for truth and realization of values (including goodness and beauty). Herbert, however, understands that the drama of human beings and their freedom does not always submit to the rationalism of philosophers. Similarly to Prof. I. Dąmbska, he is also aware of the existence of antinomies and dualities, which human beings, in their striving for freedom to, try to overcome so as to give meaning to their own fragile existence.