St. John Paul II, quoting the words of Christ, says, “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” He added: “These words contain both a fundamental requirement and a warning: the requirement of an honest relationship with regard to truth as a condition for authentic freedom, and the warning to avoid every kind of illusory freedom, every superficial unilateral freedom, every freedom that fails to enter into the whole truth about man and the world.” (Redemptor Hominis). The topic of Freedom is one of the most discussed topics of our time.
Here in Our Lady of Sheshan Seminary, we had the first part of our Thomistic Studies, on which we dealt with the topic of Will and Freedom. In this first part, which is a historical part, some of the religious provide an exposition on the philosophy of various philosophers regarding the Will and Freedom, including Plato, Aristotle, Ockham, Nietzsche, and Sartre, among many others. These studies are very helpful in deepening our understanding of freedom, which is a crucial topic for all time, especially in our time.