This essay argues tree theses: first, the crisis of freedom and law that currently haunts late modern society arises from the way in which the modern notion of autonomy rests an a purely postulated concept of freedom. Conceiving freedom as a postulate obscures the fact of its givenness and, consequently, its reception. Without an explicit account of its reception, the modern concept of freedom, seen to be constitutive of the autonomous agent, necessarily turn into infinite freedom. Yet an infinite freedom thatis not identical wich the highest good unavoidably results in a will that only wills im own positing. Hence, freedom conceived as unrestrained wilfulness calls for an equally wilful restraint by the law. As a result, the very autonomy that is intended to overcome the antagonism between freedom and law gives rise to a new and intensified antagonism. Second, thenature of finite freedom, that is, the freedom of the human as a finite being, can be determined only in contrast to infinite freedom. Yet since infinite freedom can be properly conceived of only by differentiating between Creator and creature, any proper account of finite freedom entails the Creator-creature differente. Third, in contradistinction to autonomy, received freedom can never turn itself into die abyss of freedom. Rather, the creaturely reception of freedom itself determines the nature and form of finite freedom. In its specific creaturely form, received freedom remains directed toward its Giver and, thereby, stays in the mode of reception. The essay concludes with three fundamental insights: First, a concept of reception that is developed in both trinitarian (infinite freedom) and anthropological (finite freedom) terms makes way for a nuancedtheology of the law which allows for an understanding of how the law, instead of competing with the reception of freedom, can grant freedom its creaturely gestalt. Second, an analogical concept of law is required in order to conceive law as freedom´s form. Third, there can be no satisfying theory

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Personen: Ulrich, Hans G. Hütter, Reinhard

Schlagwörter: Freiheit Trinität Gesetz Autonomie