Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Freedom
(7,725 words)

1. Basic tenets

1.1 Terminology

The term freedom has been firmly established in political language since Antiquity. Someone with the power of self-determination is considered free; someone obliged to bow to the will of (an)other(s), unfree. As Johann Wolfgang von Goethe expressed it in passing at the time of the War…

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Schmidt, Georg, “Freedom”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_019404>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20180126



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