Paulo Freire and the first movements of the concept of freedom

Abstract

The general objective of this study is to present the seminal formulations of the concept of freedom in Freire, reviewing this concept in the texts produced by him from 1967 to 1979. The methodology used is the hermeneutic of the idea of freedom which manifests itself in the texts. The theoretical reference is the concept of freedom in the educator, which in this period migrates from a personalist origin to a proposition which dialogues with Marxism. The result was that, initially, under the personalist influence, freedom will be defined as linking oneself to the Creator. Nevertheless, the state of exile brings Freire closer to Western Marxism. Thus, the traditional Christian creed, the direct link between individual and creator, is substituted by the idea that the individual-Creator link need necessarily be mediated by the collective. In being this way, man is not only liberated in his return to the Creator; his freedom comes about in interaction with the Creator via interaction with other men. This suggests to us that the true interaction with the Creator does not come about with an individual re-onnection, of the I/divinity type, but in communion, that is to say, in the us/ divinity re-connection.

Key words: Paulo Freire, education, freedom.