Odo Marquard is one of the most prominent German philosophers of modern times. He represents a sceptical attitude, referring to the Frankfurt School (a pupil of Joachim Ritter), and post-modernism. In his writings, he forms an original (and controversial) vision of freedom: "Human freedom is based on the division of authority". This argument derived from Montesquieu's thesis is the starting point for the present discussion of the importance of the concept of freedom in the philosophy and analysis of the current difficulties associated with him in the European tradition of thought. Marquard presents three understandings of freedom: freedom as a zero-determination, liberty to evil as an alibi of God and freedom as a positive determination of human conduct. Marquard is an adherent of the third concept, which leads him to the post-modern approach of anthropology and the rejection of the notion of freedom of classical metaphysics.
