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Persuasive Essay On Freedom

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We as a society like to think of ourselves as free. Free to go where we choose, do what we like, and live our lives as we deem fit. Of course, we all realize that it doesn’t always quite work out so perfectly and there are logical barriers keeping you from living every day eating candy and riding roller coasters. We certainly don’t have total freedom in that sense, but we believe we are free in the sense that we can choose things for ourselves and live life by our own rules, within reason. But what if we have even less control than we think? Several notable philosophers have contemplated what it means to have freedom and whether or not we have any choices at all. I talk, of course, about determinism and the human psyche.
Section Two: Analysis
Among the first influential philosophers to cover this issue was Arthur Schopenhauer in his Prize Essay on the Freedom of the Will back in 1839. According to Schopenhauer, freedom is “the absence of everything that impedes and obstructs” (Schopenhauer 174) He goes on to state that there are three individual types of freedom: physical freedom, moral freedom, and intellectual freedom. To put it simply, physical freedom is the absence of physical restriction. If you are not physically bound, held in a room against your will, or paralyzed, then you are physically free. He explains moral freedom and describes it as being the ability to will yourself to do something without any external forces to influence you. And finally, he covers

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