...Sansone 1 English 101 5 September 2014 Freedom: The Power of Choice Freedom is the power to make decisions based on your own life and given the unalienable rights to do so. Every man born in America is endowed with certain rights and justices that consider them free. They are all born with the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. To be free does not mean a person can do whatever they please; there are laws that must be followed for everyone to be treated equal. As soon as someone’s freedom starts to interfere with another person’s that is when it becomes injustice and there may be legal actions taken against the rights of the wrong doer. A Supreme Court Representative in 1902, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., made the statement, “The right to swing my fist ends where the other man’s nose begins.” America is supposedly the country for freedom and equality because in other countries the people are not given nearly the same amount of rights. America is also the only country that allows immigrants to migrate to our country and allow them to become a legal citizen. Freedom is allowing any human being the same rights as another no matter the difference in race, gender, ethnicity, religion, or whatever it may be. Many men and women fought hard throughout their whole lives to ensure that people of a different race would be given the same freedom as a white man. Martin Luther King Jr. in the most well known advocate for freedom between races and made a huge impact in the ...
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...10 November 2015 Freedom of Choice: A Woman’s Right In 2011, approximately 1.06 million abortions took place in the United States. 85.5% of those abortions were performed on unmarried women. The reasons vary on why a women chooses abortion over birth. From having unprotected sex, failure of birth control and even rape are to name but a few. Either way, the birth of a child comes with lifelong responsibilities and affects both mother and child (Abort 73.com, 2009). Regardless of the reasons for choosing abortion, it comes down to having the freedom to choose what happens to our bodies. It is our bodies that will be subjected to the changes pregnancy brings as well as the risks. It is our finances that will support that child throughout its life. It is our maternal skills that will raise that child to be a caring, valuable member of society. Members of congress or pro-life advocates are not going to come to our homes and do these things for us so therefore, it has to be our choice to control whether we proceed with or terminate a pregnancy. If termination is our choice then we should have access to that option in a clean, safe environment. With over one million women choosing abortion over giving birth, lends to the supporting evidence in favor of right to choose arguments. Women should not be dictated to by laws of government or religious ideology in regards to their own bodies. They should retain control and be free to exercise their freedom of choice. Pregnancy can be a wonderful...
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...The Hidden Effects “The Freedom of Choice Act” Has In Our Country In our country, we are free to do whatever we want that is not breaking the law. We are free to come and go as we please, say what we want, even drive anywhere we want to go. Why is it such a problem when a woman wants the freedom to do what she wants with her own body? When we think about “The Freedom of Choice Act”, we think about abortion and who has the right to determine what a woman can do or not do with her own body. Through time, we have argued that it the woman who has the right to choose, or perhaps it is the father who should have a say so, or maybe it is the clergy, or the government who should have a say in the matter. Most believe that the woman should have the final say so because it is her body. Some believe that the father of the child should be able to have a say if the child is born or not. Then you have those who believe that the clergy or the government should be the ones who regulate abortions through laws to determine if a woman is going to have an abortion or not. Then there is always the question about those who wind up in this position of abortion because of rape or incest. In this paper, we will touch on several different topics of abortion to have a better understanding why there is such a strong debate on this subject. History on Abortion When we think of abortion, many people do not think about it or even talk about it. When those who are sitting around contemplating abortion, they...
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...aware that people in the United States live in a state of freedom, yet this is not as true as people would like it to be. Americans are free to do the things that do not break the laws that the government has enforced. Government action will not help deliver the freedom to the people. Americans are free, but only to a certain point. Most people are afraid to challenge controversial issues and express their true opinions and feelings because they fear what society will think. This limits freedom because people feel forced to conform to societies norms in the United States. Everyone has the...
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...One indicator of Human Development is freedom of choice or range of choices among the individuals 1. Introduction Freedom of choice[1] is right to exercise one's freedoms in any manner one may choose except where such act may obstruct or prevent others from exercising their freedoms, put oneself or others in danger, or exceeds a statutory limit. According to online Black’s law dictionary[2], Unfettered right to do what one wants when one wants as one wants, except where it infringes or prevents another from doing what that one wants, and do so on. Also excluded is doing something that would harm one’s self or another. Human development is a concept within the scope of the study of the human condition, specifically international development, relating to international and economic development. This concept of a broader human development was first laid out by Amartya Sen, a 1998 Nobel laureate, and expanded upon by Martha Nussbaum, Sabina Alkire, Ingrid Robeyns, and others (UNDP, 2012). Human development encompasses more than just the rise or fall of national incomes. Development is thus about expanding the choices people have, to lead lives that they value, and improving the human condition so that people have the chance to lead full lives (Streeten, 1994). Thus, human development is about much more than economic growth, which is only a means of enlarging people’s choices (UNDP, 2012). As a general definition, indicators are “tools for providing specific information...
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...regarding freedom and, more specifically, to what extent an individual is free to make choices that determine the remainder of their life. At one extreme of the issue, a person could argue that an individual does not have any freedom whatsoever, and that all the events that occur throughout life are predetermined by some sort of higher being or plan and would, therefore, occur regardless of any choices one could possibly make. At the opposite end of the spectrum...
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...The problem of freedom can be understood in two distinct meanings; however we will take a more philosophical approach (N.A Berdyaev, 2011). We will define the problem of freedom as choice of good and evil, which conquers and which they conquer not. Also in order to understand the problem of freedom we have to add Free will. Free will has as much to do with making choices and participating in actions as morality fitting into the equation (N.A Berdyaev, 2011). Morality dictates that we have freedoms to be moral and make moral decisions. The chances are if we were to remove free will form the equation then we could not be held responsible for our moral decisions. Another factor of the problem of freedom is responsibility, which is the direct path to freedom. This analogy puts it in to perspective the more freedom we have; the more responsible we are for it. When freedom is involved the words choice and free are synonymous of each other. You can’t have one without the other (Williams & Arrigo, 2008). One would state that we couldn’t choose if we are not free to do so. We would not do the word freedom justice unless we look at ethical decision-making. Freedom when discussed with ethical decision making, means options other (Williams & Arrigo, 2008). Therefore this also implies we have choices. Now you should be able to understand how one is indirect proportion of the other. It is said the dynamics of freedom leads to its ultimate self-destruction. When freedom takes a path of...
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...Sartre’s Bad Faith Sartre’s says that a man is free and responsible for himself. Many people can agree and many disagree, but Sartre’s has many good points in thinking this way. With freedom comes responsibility is a well-known saying. Which is basically part of what Sartre’s is trying to explain? Freedom is existence and source of all values. We are free to do what we want, but the things we do and the way you act determines your qualities. Each of us is responsible for everything we do because we are free to make our own decisions and choices. We are our choices and within everything we do we make a choice. Therefore, if you chose to do anything or whatever you have chosen to do, you are responsible for that choice. Even if you don’t choose, you have “chosen” to not choose, so you did still make a choice. You can only either chose sincerity or self-deception which is to be or not to be. According to Sartre’s, Bad faith is not accepting freedom and responsibility and the outcome of them. One of the main forms of bad faith believes in God. Humans use religion to escape from the reality of human situations. They try to escape because they can’t accept or deal with the consequences of human responsibility. Humans have to make decisions and live with their decisions; not God, nature, nor society has anything to do with it. Good faith is living in reality and accepting the fact that God does not exist. Presidential candidate Herman Cain was accused of sexual harassment. He claims...
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...and humanism brings with it several emotional implications or responsibilities in which choice is connected. One of the emotional links is that of anguish. Satre states that anguish is an individual’s response to freedom …“we are responsible as we are free” .. (Flynn 2006 pg8) that individuals have to take sole responsibility for actions taken resulting in the feeling of anguish. Discussion As starte stated existence precedes essence, we are all a Tabula Rasa(blank slate) that we are all free in which to make the choices and decisions that shapes who we are. Anguish is almost an emotional response to the freedom that we have, that we are all free to choose own paths in life, we should be responsible for all of our actions, choices and decisions that we make. When choosing that decision we are choosing that decision for all. ..”When choosing for himself he chooses for all mankind..” (Cohen- solal 1996 pg, 67) Satre utilised Kierkegaards example of Abraham sacrificing his son as a result of a divine command in which to explain anguish more clearly. Stare sates that is it Abraham’s choice in which to interpret the command as divine or god like. To satre the freedom is the value of all values that we can experience aguish as a result of the responsibility of being truly free, however satre suggested that we are also condemned to be free, resulting in anguish felt at making the right choices. Evaluation It could be suggested that Satres strong views that we are all free could...
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...The war between security and freedom has been fought for centuries; from the times of tyrants to the creation of the United States and the present. The book 1984 is a perfect example of ending the war on security and freedom. Where freedom is the ability to do anything and not have any repercussions. The world of 1984 has neither security nor freedom, only control through power and gives an illusion of both. Freedom can be found in every living class in 1984 including the Inner Party, Outer Party, and to The Proles. Freedom being the subject at hand begins in the Inner Party. The Inner Party conveys the stronger form of freedom in various ways, two of which are the freedom to give anyone suffrage and to have sexual relations with whomever. O’Brien, asks the question, “how does one man assert his power over another” giving him an...
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...God’s Freedom In Morris’ articles “Omnipotence and Omniscience” and Swinburne’s “God,” the philosophers list and examine what they find to be the essential properties of God. In the articles, Morris and Swinburne agrees that an essential property of God must be that he must be perfectly free or at least have some type of freedom. Morris and Swinburne contend that where humans have free will, which might be just a marginal amount of freedom, God has the maximum amount possible of freedom that is logically possible limited by the other characteristics of God. However, it seems when closely examined, many of God’s essential characteristics strip him of any kind of freedom believers might attribute to him. Defining God’s freedom seems to be a very abstract and difficult task. As humans, we feel as though we have free will. There are many different ways to define human free will, but a common characteristic is the ability to have done otherwise in a situation. Meaning, if I were placed in the same exact situation where I had to make a decision multiple times, I could make a different decision each time. However, it seems that given the same exact circumstances, I would have no reason to make a different decision; I would always make the same choice, unless there was an element of randomness introduced. This doesn’t seem like a good way to define free will; God’s intentions never should seem random. A different interpretation would have free will as simply the ability to decide...
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...Freedom Lives Within Three people are walking down a New York City street. One is a Black man, one is an Asian woman, and the other person is a White man. One can easily picture the three people walking beside one another because the image is not bizarre or strange, rather; the image is completely normal. The vision is normal because these three American citizens have the freedom to walk where they choose, with whom they choose. The word freedom is often overlooked and taken for granted by those who have it. A popular idea of freedom is: “Freedom lets someone do whatever he chooses to do.” Although this thought of freedom is technically correct, the phrase barely scratches the surface of the idea of freedom. Freedom comes from Old English freedom, meaning, "freedom, state of free will; charter, emancipation, deliverance” (Online Etymology Dictionary). Freedom includes possessing the ability to make a choice for one’s self. For example, the Black man walking down the street can choose to leave his two friends to stop and get coffee without being questioned solely because he simply wanted to buy coffee. Maybe it is Election Day and he made up his mind on the candidate best suited to hold a specific office. He is free to venture to his designated voting poll, and in personal privacy, cast his vote in peace because his personal choice of who to vote for is respected. One normally does not think of stopping at Starbucks as a freedom, while voting is considered a major freedom. Freedom...
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...In his essay Existentialism is Humanism Sartre develops an atheistic moral system. In this paper, I will examine the moral system that Sartre presents. I will attempt to provide the most plausible interpretation of this morality and determine if this moral system can work in a society. I will conclude that there are several problems with Sartre’s account of morality that make it inadequate. And I will try to provide a possible solution to these problems. In order to understand Sartre’s account of morality we should first examine the basis upon which it is developed. Sartre develops his account of morality from a perspective of what he calls a “consistently atheistic” existentialism. The “consistently atheistic” existentialism maintains that God does not exist. This means that there can be no universal moral values, but it also means, and this is very important for Sartre’s account that man’s existence comes before man’s essence. If God does not exist then there can be no universal moral values because such values, at least in the European morality, come from the “commandments of God”. We use these commandments to define good and evil, and upon these two opposing concepts we base our morality. Furthermore if God does not exist then man was not created according to a divine plan, his essence was not defined a priori, and therefore there is no such a thing as “Human nature”. Sartre defines his phrase “existence precedes essence” as applied to man...
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...Biondi 1 Francesca Biondi Acceptance is the True Freedom Freedom can mean many different things in different people’s eyes. It can mean the freedom to express yourself without consequences, the freedom to believe in what you wish without punishment or the freedom to stand up for something that you feel is wrong without being accused. In this short story, “The Strangers that came to Town”, Ambrose Flack is showing that true freedom is about being accepted. Freedom is demonstrated through acceptance by being able to be who you are without being judged, being able to move to a country by choice and being able to put aside your differences in order to acknowledge your values. Primarily, freedom is being accepted while still being able to be yourself. Throughout the short story there were many times that the Duvitches could act like themselves without having to worry if they were going to be accepted or not. Mr. Duvitch proudly showed off his hard work and displayed his 61 fish that he caught for his family to Andy’s father knowing that he would not be judged. “Proudly, oh, so proudly, Mr. Duvitch exhibited the catch that would probably feed his family for the better part of the week” (Flack 6). Mr. Duvitch’s freedom to continue something he enjoys such as fishing allowed him to express himself the way he wanted to and allowed people to accept him for that. Mr. Duvitch also allowed himself to be the confident and happy self when surrounded by people he knew he would be accepted by...
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...the choices that I make, I make on my own accord, this may not necessarily be the case (Furze et al., 2015. p. 6). Society may be unknowingly playing a part in my decision-making and therefore prohibiting freedom from being obtained by anyone. In my life, major decisions have been made, for example the choice to continue my schooling at university. The reason that this aspect of my life has been chosen is that I feel as though it makes sense. I felt that I was making my own decision by choosing to go to university. However, looking at the idea of society and the choices we make based on societies values, I believe I made a welcome choice. At the time I thought that the decision I made was just mine. However, delving further into this concept of real freedom, I now know that my then decision was not made with freedom intact. I realise that there were different social structures that were at work during the making of that decision. These structures being microstructures and macrostructures (Furze et al., 2015. p. 7). The microstructures refer to my family, friends and my work associations, and the macrostructures refer to the “social relations that lie outside and above your circle of intimates and acquaintances” (Furze et al., 2015. p. 7). The above social structures were processed consciously. I had no idea that I was going through one at a time ticking off whether each group would approve my choice of university and what they would say to another choice. Being...
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