Intended Meaning
Shahrur maintains that human beings are born free by nature, and that freedom is not something incidental to them but part of their humanity He links this meaning to the human vicegerency on earth, that is, freedom is among the necessities of human station and responsibility
The Atom’s Structure in the Atlas
- Type of argument: definitional
- Movement of the argument: makes freedom part of human nature and of the meaning of vicegerency.
- Key terms: freedom, nature, vicegerency.
- Degree of centrality: pivotal.
Defining freedom as something original in human beings, not an accidental state, then linking this original quality to human responsibility on earth in order to establish the value of freedom within the overall structure of understanding.
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Basis
- Supporting text: “The human being is free by nature, and freedom is part of his humanity and of the meaning of his vicegerency on earth.”
Basis in the Book
- Book: Religion and Power.
- Location: at the beginning of the book, within the treatment of vicegerency and freedom.
- Type of basis: close witness.
- Marker that helps verification: he came to have absolute freedom
- Reading note: this passage is suitable as evidence because it connects freedom to human choice and to the meaning of vicegerency, and it is close to the idea that freedom is part of nature.
Degree of Documentation
- Level: directly documented
- Meaning of the level: the atom relies on an explicit witness close to the wording of the claim.
- Limits of reading: the formulation above is an analytic summary, and is not to be treated as a verbatim quotation unless the witness is quoted textually.
Its Function in the Book
Its function here is declarative; it establishes a conclusion on which what follows in the course of the argument depends.
Editorial Note
The condensed formulation adheres to the general meaning without expansion.