The problem of freedom as a distinctive feature of man in LS Vygotsky's works

The paper analyzes development of L.S. Vygotsky's views on the problem of freedom and the ways those views are connected to B. Spinoza's theory and Marxism. The author states that the notion of freedom as arbitrariness in "instrumental psychology" (1927-1929) was replaced by the notion of free conscious action suggested by L.S. Vygotsky in his theory of dynamic sense systems (1932-1934), which is based on tenets of spinozism, Marxism-and K. Levin's dynamic psychology. The article discusses documents from archives and experimental studies of loss of freedom in the process of personal dissipation, conducted by L.S. Vygotsky's research group.