Über Freiheit und Recht

In his essays on the philosophy of law, written between 1992 and 2007, Jan Schapp addresses fundamental questions pertaining to the relationship between freedom and the law. This relationship can only be explained by considering the philosophical and religious roots of the concept of freedom. The author sees Platonic ethics, with its model in which reason limits desires, as a basic model of ethics which still applies today, and within whose framework the Christian doctrine of freedom as well as the philosophy of freedom of the Enlightenment and the modern age were able to develop. This makes it possible to establish a dialogue between antiquity, Christianity, the Enlightenment and the modern age. Of particular significance is the question of the importance of the destruction of ancient and Christian metaphysics by the freedom philosophies of the Enlightenment, in particular by Kant's moral philosophy.