Analysis Of Hadot 's The Inner Citadel

According to Nancy Holmstrom, our actions are not free unless we have free will. We must be fully aware of our desires or beliefs in order to be responsible for our actions. Using Holmstrom’s account of soft determinism, it is possible to analyze how truly free our choices are in life, whether they be minor or significant decisions. I will be referencing Holmstrom’s “Firming up Soft Determinism” in order to argue that I had a minimal amount of freedom in choosing to attend the University of Kansas.

Life is endless because their continuously getting reincarnated to start over their life after facing hardship throughout their lives. It is almost impossible because no matter what state you’re in the hardship will never last for long.

This is the moment when Douglass realized the only way he would truly be free is if he educates himself. It is also the moment that solidified his belief that black people are not naturally inferior. Douglass states, he now knows the pathway to freedom is education and that leads him to pursue it. Douglass’s first achievement was learning how to read. He states his most successful tactic was becoming friends with little white boys who taught him in return for bread. He learned how to write by taking Mrs. Auld’s sons writing books. Douglass learned to read and write regardless of the danger it put him in. Douglass’s risks his life to educate himself because he knows it is his only path to freedom. It is clear education is crucial to his explanation of freedom because it is emphasized

“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion,” is a quote written by Albert Camus, which displays the complexity of defining the term freedom. Jean-Paul Sartre’s play “The Flies,” defines the concept of freedom as the accountability of one’s own guilt, which allows individuals to recognize their own freedom. Furthermore, an individual that accepts accountability for one’s own guilt and responsibility for the city, or complete isolation, is living in freedom. Likewise, Zora Neal Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God explores the notion of being or becoming absolutely free, finding her voice,

From the earlier times in our lives till now, we humans have been struggling hard to be free and independent of the things that limit our right to be free. And even though some people say that having security in life can regulate our lives and messy societies, I believe that too much security or limitation causes more dilemmas. Also, by being independent and free, one can learn new things rather than just by sticking to some widely held beliefs. We can see many examples related to this assumption everywhere in our lives, movies, books, and history.

Freedom is a word that is thrown around lightly. What was considered freedom now, holds a way different meaning to it than it did when slavery existed. Many people encountered it, endured it, and even participated in the cruel acts. In his essay “How I Learned to Read and Write,” Frederick Douglass expresses the hardships that took place while learning to be literate. In his memoir, he recollects about his encounters with setbacks and risks he exerted while learning. Douglass sacrificed his chance of freedom to understand the thing he desired most: knowledge. A determined student defies the boundaries of formal education.

Having an imagination of being free was only a dream that many dream of. “Every slave thinks about it. In the morning and in the afternoon and in the night. Dreaming of it. Every dream a dream of escape even when it didn’t look like it.”

Our entire existence is constrained by time, not even allowing us the right of determining how or when our mortal lives draw to a close.

An individual with “Free Will” is capable of making vital decisions and choices in life with own free consent. The individual chooses these decisions without any outside influence from a set of “alternative possibilities.” The idea of “free will” imposes a certain kind of power on an individual to make decisions of which he or she is morally responsible. This implies that “free will” would include a range of aspects such as originality, moral value, and self-governance. However, in life, individuals may not be free in making decisions. The aspect of freedom could entail remarkably a high status action and achievement in an individual’s life whose attainment could be close to impossibility. Often, people make

“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.” (Albert Camus). Since the beginning of time, many have been seeking the chance of freedom. During the Pre-Civil War era individuals were free, only under the specific circumstances. Mark Twain, author of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, knew that many people who were known as outsiders were on a quest to be free from society, one example being the slaves.

The lack of freedom is shown in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest when Nurse Ratched prohibits Randle and the others from watching the World Series. In order for Randle to be able to watch the World Series, he must obtain a certain amount of votes. At first, he does not, leaving Nurse Ratched once again feeling successful. The second time Randle asks to watch the game, he does obtain the required amount of votes, yet Nurse Ratched claims it does not count, as the requirement was not met while the group meeting was still running. Small instances like this leave people such as Randle left feeling helpless and as if they are not entitled to basic forms of enjoyment. The lesson that each of the texts attempt to show the reader is that freedom is an important aspect of life, even having the freedom to do what we view as minuscule activities, such as to choose what to watch on television.

In the fall of my seventh grade year at Kent Denver, my grades were not quite as good as my parents wanted. I believed my grades were fine, but my parents obviously thought otherwise. I already had less freedom to do things because I had broken my arm early in the fall. So it came as a shock when my parents restricted the things I could do and put more rules in place around the house. I felt trapped and I wanted to be able to do more things. This got me thinking about freedom.

Freedom means living life as one wants, everything else is a form of slavery. If a person is not allowed to make his or hers decisions, if he or she is not free to live life as he/she wants than he/she doesn’t have power over his or her existence. If freedom was not essential for every human being than no one would have found so fiercely for it. If it was not important than today we would not be still fighting to keep and extend our freedom.

Freedom means, to carry out one own choices, actions without coercion or constraint by necessity or circumstances. Fate often take a hand in the distillation of freedom. When this distillation occurs at weaker levels, benevolent slavery begins. A benevolent master usually receives gratitude from those slaves who are aware of their good fortune and will, in turn, work willingly. This form of slave's future is relatively certain, assured and predictable. Their offspring, born into a benevolent slavery, find the thought of freedom disturbing.

Life as we know it could vanish within seconds. The next day is not promised to anyone that walks on this earth. As we live our everyday lives peacefully, we tend not to think what our mission or purpose in life is. Instead, we think what we must do for that to be a “successful” person. Despite this way of thinking, just think for a second. What makes life meaningful? What is life anyway? These questions dive right into the heart of the philosophical, psychological, and the biological aspects of life and what the true meaning of life is. This is a very arguable topic due to every person’s different perspective on life and what it means to them. In summary, I personally think that life is simply what you make of it and each person’s accomplishments has its own merit