From Solid Modernity to Liquid Freedom: Rousseau, Kant, and the Crisis of Liberation in Modernity

Abstract

This paper examines the historical development of the modern pursuit of liberation through the philosophical perspectives of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Immanuel Kant, Isaiah Berlin, and Zygmunt Bauman. Beginning with Rousseau’s critique of civilization and the loss of natural freedom, the study explores how modernity emerged from the tension between human independence and social constraint. It then analyzes Kant’s Enlightenment philosophy, which transformed liberation into a project of rational progress and moral autonomy, establishing the intellectual foundation of early modernity. Through Isaiah Berlin’s distinction between negative and positive liberty, the paper further clarifies the conflicting understandings of freedom that shaped modern political and philosophical thought.