Conference: “Freedom, the most used and least understood word”, by Tobias Hoffmann

A conference organised by the Quatro Quartetos Cultural Centre, to be held at the SCML Library.

Tobias Hoffmann, Historian of Medieval Philosophy, Sorbonne

In conversation with Fátima Vizeu Pinheiro and Maria do Rosário Lupi Bello

Professor Tobias Hoffmann is a specialist in Medieval Philosophy, having devoted his research to the concept of freedom – a word so widely used, yet perhaps the least understood. This conversation aims to clarify what is meant by this word today – a word used in so many different ways – and to uncover its true meaning: is freedom doing what one wishes? Is it the ability to choose? Is it being free from any form of coercion? Is it the same as free will? Is it being able to say who I am? Medieval thought may come to our aid and offer a comprehensive and very useful answer for our times.