...What Is the Meaning of True Freedom? To be "free," as generally understood, is to be free to do anything one desires to do, as long as you do not harm another person, thus interfering with his or her freedom. With this in mind, you can do essentially anything you want. There are no restrictions, no limits. In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote that we, humans, have rights. Among these being the famous "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." I believe that the very essence of freedom is found in the early years of our American Revolution. There is no better way to describe freedom than an element that all humans strive for, to the point of incivility, or war. It is something that we treasure so dear to us that we chose to die defending it. Freedom has both an external as well as an internal component. The external is associated with how we can "freely" operate in society so as to not, for example, encroach on the freedom of others. The internal component is related to grasping our own potential; and this requires that we understand ourselves, that we understand others through overcoming our prejudices against them, and also that we learn to attain the audacity to express this knowledge openly. Freedom without a goal or purpose is hollow but when the purpose is simply the search for truths in the wide sense of the word and for which there are many paths, it gains meaning. It is through these truths that we will learn to "better" ourselves...
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...animals lose their freedom only because of man's needs and deeds. The world is 'open' and not 'closed' in its natural state; every animal - man is not exempted - desires novelty, spontaneity and genuine creativity, which are the hallmarks of freedom. Man, though born free like other animals, is in chain everywhere. This is because of the restrictions and restraints which he imposes on himself and which are imposed on him by others. For example, no one is expected to appear naked in public in the name of freedom. There are social norms to be followed. Different occasions demand different customs. Man, living in a society, has to follow certain customs, conventions and traditions in the interest of harmonious existence; he cannot take the stand that he is absolutely free and that he can do things in his own way. Man, in the process of his change from primitive tribalism to civilized existence, has chained himself more and more to rules and regulations. Unlike other living creatures, he is capable of thinking and is intelligent to devise ways and means of exploiting his fellowmen. This exploitation leads to his keeping them subdued and enslaved. Imperialism in the past and neo-colonialism and neo-imperialism today have only been instruments of suppressing the aspirations for freedom of the exploited. A classic example of suppression in the modern world is witnessed in the policy of apartheid and racial discrimination practised in South Africa. The craving for freedom in any living...
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...Man is born freeBut everywhere he is in chain. - J. J. RousseauDiscuss the meaning and importance of freedom in the light of this quotation. | | Every animal including man is born free. All animals in their natural state, except man who is precluded by civilization to be in his natural state, are free. Some animals lose their freedom only because of man's needs and deeds. The world is 'open' and not 'closed' in its natural state; every animal - man is not exempted - desires novelty, spontaneity and genuine creativity, which are the hallmarks of freedom.Man, though born free like other animals, is in chain everywhere. This is because of the restrictions and restraints which he imposes on himself and which are imposed on him by others. For example, no one is expected to appear naked in public in the name of freedom. There are social norms to be followed. Different occasions demand different customs. Man, living in a society, has to follow certain customs, conventions and traditions in the interest of harmonious existence; he cannot take the stand that he is absolutely free and that he can do things in his own way.Man, in the process of his change from primitive tribalism to civilized existence, has chained himself more and more to rules and regulations. Unlike other living creatures, he is capable of thinking and is intelligent to devise ways and means of exploiting his fellowmen. This exploitation leads to his keeping them subdued and enslaved. Imperialism in the past and...
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...The lady enlightening the world In New York harbor, on liberty island, a mighty green woman figure stands as a clear idea of what America is going to be, a multicultural country protects freedom of speech and religion, liberty didn`t only mean freedom from the British empire, liberty also meant freedom for immigrants who leaving their mother countries and come to the united states to create a new life without any persecution from any kind. My goal in this paper is to focus on the meanings for the statue of liberty which have changed over the time, and the countless roles in its 127-year history. I have organized my paper into two main sections, in the first one, we`re going to reflect on some of the various political and cultural meanings of the statue of liberty, in the second section I focus on the universal meanings of the statue as freedom, emancipation, and the national unity. Political and cultural meanings As the American civil war drew to close, in the summer of 1865, several French intellectuals were at a dinner party at the historian Edouard de Laboulaye`s mansion in Glatigny, Laboulaye was a French law...
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...Reflections on Man’s Search For Meaning INT 101 Dr. Walker December 4 2013 Thomas Jefferson wrote – “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”1 The pursuit of happiness seems to be the end game for life, but is it? Viktor Frankl is a concentration camp survivor and goes one level deeper in his book Man’s Search For Meaning. Finding the true meaning in life is the key to self-actualization. Frankl quotes the words of Fredrich Nietzsche – “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.”2 Frankl reveals what life was like in the concentration camps. He also discusses Logotherapy, which he created. Frankl was subjected to four different Nazi camps and was dehumanized to a mere number: 119,104. Moreover, Nazis murdered his wife, mother, father, and unborn child, yet Frankl was able to find a purpose for living in all his sufferings. Frankl goes into detail on the concentration camps. Life was hell on earth. What appeared to him was the mind’s power to protect. The longer the stay, the more numbing all human emotion became. There are some behaviors I would like to highlight. They are strong and appear based on Frankl’s experiences in the camps. Hope People died daily in the camps. The guards played a finger game. They would randomly point, and if you were picked, you died. The simple act of pointing delivered your fate. Prisoners who focused on the WHY to live had a better chance at survival. Frankl determined that a youthful face and eagerness to work increased...
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...the conclusion that I myself would rather live in a world that has no freedom, but as an individual have a purpose. Why do I feel this way? We currently live in a time where freedom is what most people consider “available” to the majority of the human race. Society has groomed individuals to believe that freedom equates to purpose. That freedom is the answer to finding your way in life. That once you find freedom you will no longer feel lost. I want to use the United States (The Land of the FREE) as an example of this theory in play with society. You see that many people of different regions come to the United States looking for freedom. To the people’s surprise, they find freedom but another thing they find is that the people here in America...
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...ESL 51 EW20 Samina Mariam October 1, 2014 What is freedom? What is freedom? As denotatively defined the act of being free or being exempt from anything. As in its literal meaning free; freedom provides an opportunity to exercise one’s right to choose how to live and express themselves. Centuries’ struggle and blood shed is involved in shaping the word freedom. The word freedom has gone through the evolution along with the history of mankind and that’s the reason it has changed its meanings over the course of centuries. The early civilizations had an understanding of freedom as political freedom when invasion or being invaded were the norms and only way to be free was to surrender to the powerful conqueror. But now the meanings are different...
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...challenges read from a contemporary context help us better understand individuals and their relation to the world they live in. Through an existential reading of King Lear, we see Lear’s challenge of his identity crisis, thus providing us with a deeper understanding of Lear and his diegetic world. Likewise, a feminist reading of the text gives insight to females and their challenge to achieve equality in King Lear’s diegetic world when read from a contemporary viewpoint. Furthermore, the representations of the existential challenges in The invention of Love demonstrate how existential philosophy is inherent within the characters and the diegetic world of the text. Through an existential reading, Lear’s challenge of achieving “existential freedom” can give us insight to Lear’s own identity crisis and it’s association with his world. Lear’s identity crisis in splitting of the kingdom can be considered, “good faith” from an existential reading. “We have divided in three our kingdom.” Shakespeare uses the collective pronoun, “we” to show the decision has come from a new identity created within himself. His action is based on his internal new identity in contrast with external stimuli, thus having “good faith.” The challenge inherent in Lear’s identity crisis can help us understand Lear’s splitting of the kingdom as good faith and rejection of the diegetic world. The next step in Lear’s existential journey is Lear’s challenge of understanding of the absurdity of the universe. “I tax...
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...2014 Existentialism can be defined as a “philosophical movement oriented toward two major themes the analysis of human existence and the centrality of human choice.” If is a philosophy that implies that one can define his own value or meaning of life in a peace that is void of meaning. There’s also an implication that one has the freedom to choose his or own path. Existentialism is a belief that one has the freedom to make his or her own choices and with his freedom comes individuality, authenticity and responsibility. In order to possess a certain amount of individuality you must have a certain amount of freedom to think in a way that conducive to your way of life. In other words, existentialism is the essence of humanity, the thing that makes us different from anyone and anything else in the world. Merriam-Webster defines freedom as the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint; the quality or state of being free: as a: the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action; liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another. Some years ago when there was slavery, people of color had to do as they were told, they had no freedom. They were told when they could use the restroom, which water fountain to drink from, they had no say so. They couldn’t change the status of slavery unless they were killed or died. Even if they changed owners they was still considered...
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...Freedom of Choice To be an American has several meanings, but behind each meaning is the principal foundation of being free. The meaning of American freedom is best represented in the literary work of Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Benjamin Franklin grew up in a very large but poor family. Yet he found a way to use the freedom of being an American to become a well educated, successful and very influential man in American history. Americans are granted with the freedom to pursue an education, they are given the freedom to worship any god, or not to worship a god at all. Americans have the freedom to move around the country and to choose their future’s for their own lives. Which means they can live the lifestyle...
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...therapeutic practice. This approach is grounded on the assumption that we are free and therefore responsible for our choices and actions. The existential approach rejects the deterministic view of human nature espoused by orthodox psychoanalysis and radical behaviourism. Psychoanalysis sees freedom as restricted by unconscious forces, irrational drives and past events. Existential therapists acknowledge some of these facts about the human situation but emphasize our freedom to choose what to make of our circumstances. A major aim of therapy is to encourage clients to reflect on life, to recognize their range of alternatives, and to decide among them. Once clients begin the process of recognizing the ways in which they have passively accepted circumstances and surrendered control, they can start on a path of consciously shaping their own lives. One of the aims of existential therapy is to challenge people to stop deceiving themselves regarding their lack of responsibility for what is happening to them and their excessive demands on life. In existential therapy, attention is given to the clients’ immediate, ongoing experience with the aim of helping develop a greater presence in their quest for meaning and purpose. The therapists’ basic task is to encourage clients to explore their options for creating a meaningful existence. Historical Background The existential therapy movement was not founded by any particular person or group. Many streams of thought contributed to it. Drawing...
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...As we look at the meaning of Freedom it is hard not to reflect on the history of our nation. Our nation gives us many freedoms which I define as one’s ability to make their own decision when it comes to many topics. Religion, politics, which state to live in, where to work etc. Many people think just because they have many freedoms they don’t have any consequences but just because you have a freedom to make a decision doesn’t mean it is the correct one. Anytime you exercise your freedom you must ensure you don’t offend anyone. Liberty is the ability to live free within a nation with your views on certain topics changing those liberties. Every Liberty is guaranteed within the Bill of Rights. In the eyes of our Founding Fathers they believed...
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...claimed existentialists, denied it almost all the times. Existonalism out of no doubt is one of the most arduous terms to outline and comprehend. The movement is termed odd in relevance to the following delegates- Soren Kierkegaard and Fredrich Nietzsche whom everybody claims and points to be important to the movement, they denied as the members of the movement. It was not only these big figures who denied being the part of the movement but also some really big names like Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus and few other names also come to the list of all those who at least once, denied on being ever a part of the movement. The basic philosophy of existentialism is discussed below with concern to the following terms and points. 1. Freedom- freedom and choice are very much emphasized under the philosophy of existentialism. Every human is free to make choice of his matter regardless of social and relational barriers the society offers him. Human try to give their...
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...Abstract Searching for purpose and meaning in life is a trend among the human race in today’s world. This has been brought by human beings changing their way of thinking and focusing their thinking to what they think matters most in their lives. This mode of thinking is known as logotherapy. It was first coined Dr. Victor Emil Frankl. Frankl is mostly known for his book, Mans search for Meaning where he uses his life as an example to show that even after losing everything dear to them, human beings can still find meaning in his life. Frankl went through four concentration camps where he lost his wife, father and mother. Even after all this suffering Frankl still managed to find meaning in his life. Frankl’s suffering can be said to be the main motivation towards the development of Logotherapy. Key terms are Logotheraphy, Viktor Frankl, psychoanalysis. Development of Logotherapy. Viktor Frankl became interested in medicine while still an adolescent. He became interested in psychology while in High School (Life and Work, n.d). Frankl attended the same school as Sigmund Freud. Frankl became interested in Freud’s thinking and philosophies. Frankl started correspondence with Freud but soon differed with Freud’s thinking that sexual impulses explain a majority of human behavior Frankl claimed that Freud’s thinking to be too dogmatic to explain human being behavior. After leaving Freud, Frankl became interested in Alfred Alder’s philosophy on individual psychology. Individual psychology...
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... Good purposes and fulfilling activities are hard to specify impersonally in any case and any attempt to do so would insult individuals’ freedom to define such things for themselves. In this view, no single ideal of meaningful work could cover the variety of individual tastes and inclinations, nor accommodate the remarkable ability of people to invest their work with meaning even when the work has little to offer in the way of variety, authority, complexity, or social standing. 2) 1) In everyday life, work is still at the center of things; along with love, it is the most important element of a satisfying and happy life. In ordinary life, the ideal of “meaningful work,” or work that has sufficient scope for self-direction, complexity, and consequential effects to support pride and a sense of purpose, is more relevant than ever. Few still believe that a different economic and political order can bring a fundamental improvement to the human condition. Good purposes and fulfilling activities are hard to specify impersonally in any case and any attempt to do so would insult individuals’ freedom to define such things for themselves. In this view, no single ideal of meaningful work could cover the variety of individual tastes and inclinations, nor accommodate the remarkable ability of people to invest their work with meaning even when the work has little to offer in the way of...
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