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Persuasive Essay On Freedom Vs Freedom

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We’re living in the Age of Enlightenment, to where people are becoming less afraid to think for themselves, to form their own opinions and to use their own understanding without depending on others for their knowledge. For centuries, we have depended on guardians and the governments for guidance in our lives, never breaking out of the codependency-like immaturity, never thinking for our own selves. As Kant once said, the motto of enlightenment is to “have courage to use your own understanding!” But that being said, most of the society are living in the modern technology age, where we can use the internet to google anything we could possibly think of and instantly receive an answer rather than thoroughly researching the question and deciding for yourself. To be able to think for yourself and to use your own understanding signifies freedom or enlightenment. It's being completely aware of everything that could bind us into immaturity. In Kant’s view, “Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-imposed immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to use one’s understanding without guidance from another.” (Page 393) An enlightened person differs from an immature person simply by attaining a “state of unbothered bliss”. (Page 408) Being able to trust your intuition, your own understanding and judgement and to not depend on someone else’s intuition is enlightenment. To be immature, you look to someone else for what to do like a blind sheep in the herd that is following the shepherd.

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