Cosmic Aspect of Freedom

Abstract

Man is not only a bio-psychical and social being, he is also a cosmical being: member of Cosmos, where he occupies a certain place in space and time (statical cosmical position of man), and plays a certain role (dynamical cosmical position of man). Since where he through his spiritual development man penetrates deeper and deeper into the basic cosmic structure, utilising more and more successfully his knowledge of the Universe in mastering of its forces, the role of man in the Universe becomes also greater and greater. Therefore, it is no wonder that the problem of the freedom or non- freedom of human place and action in the Universe, i.e. the problem, who or what determines human place and action in the Universe: he — himself or some Cosmic He (God) or It (Godhead, Fate or simply Universe as such), acquires a special importance and interest in our atomic age. But this problem has interested man already since the remotest past and led him to the construction of two basic theories: (1) determinism: the place and action of man in the Universe are determined by the factors (agents) lying outside him, and (2) indeterminism: the place and action of man in the Universe are determined by man himself through the freedom of his own choice and decision.