Comparative Investigation of Moral Freedom in Kant and Mutahhari’s View

Freedom, especially the spiritual freedom, is one of the fundamental issues in both theoretical and practical philosophy. Its role is, however, more conspicuous in practical philosophy. The importance and necessity of this fact and its special position in resolving philosophical issues, especially the issues related to anthropology, has caused thinkers to pay special attention to it. In the present article, the views of two influential thinkers in the domain of Western and Islamic philosophy have been scrutinized through a descriptive-analytical method. One is Immanuel Kant, grown in the sphere of Christian culture, and the other is the Martyred Master Mutahhari, nurtured in the sphere of Islamic culture. Here, it is clarified that Kant has established, in his philosophy of morality, ‗freedom‘ as the foundation of his arguments for morality. The fundamental idea of Kant‘s morality is that the man‘s action must be not only based on his duty but also merely based on duty and just out of respect for moral law. In this way, Kant reaches the fundamental concept in his philosophy of morality, i.e. the idea of autonomous will (autonomy). Unlike Kant, the Martyred Master Mutahhari does not establish a link between moral freedom and observing the law; rather, he relates it to observing divine laws and paying attention to the aspect of humanity in the man. According to that idea, moral freedom, human‘s freedom from his own passions, the freedom of human‘s humanity from his animal aspect, and his autonomy, are all manifested in his moral humanity