Freedom as a biological principle: Hans Jonas’s phenomenology of life

Abstract

The Western philosophical tradition, in general, understands freedom as an exclusively human phenomenon, since we are (or would be) the only beings who enjoy the possibility of self-determination in a universe governed by necessary laws. Hans Jonas conceived freedom differently from tradition when he proposed the understanding of freedom as “a way of executing the existence” of living beings. Basically, freedom configures a principle of perception and action inherent to all organic existence, to the extent that, in order to continue to exist, every organism has to carry out metabolic “action” and, for that, it is necessary to be minimally “informed” about the environment. surrounding. That is, by freedom we can designate a natural way of being proper to living beings. However, freedom is expressed in different degrees in organic existence and is intrinsically linked to the evolution of life forms. The present work proposes to present Jonas's main considerations on the idea of freedom as a biological principle. The main arguments of the philosopher's hypothesis will be examined, which postulates the prefiguration of mind or spirit even in the most primitive forms of organic being.