The Question of Freedom
What I shall continue with is a discussion of the relevance of Spinoza in understanding freedom. Now while I may have been fundamentally opposed to Spinoza’s claim that he was offering freedom in my previous papers, I feel that I am better equipped to speak about this issue now in terms of its relevance.
Spinoza’s idea of freedom is indeed relevant to philosophy today, and to crack a bad pun, he is a determinate and necessary part of understanding freedom in the modern world. Freedom is not defined by free will; in fact Proposition 32 strictly denies the existence of such a thing “Will cannot be called a free cause, but only a necessary cause.”(Spinoza, 235), or some kind of random indeterminate impulse to do something, freedom is defined by a strict adherence to the necessity of the actions dictated by the nature of something. This conceptualization of freedom is important because, while that most beloved idea of freewill remains entrenched in the minds of men, Spinoza offers not only a complete rejection of this idea, but offers an alternative idea of freedom without it. For Spinoza there is no freedom in random acts, because random acts diverge from the true nature of the singularity in question. Freedom only arises when a singularity behaves according to its nature. This does not mean that it cannot make decisions; rather it means that it can make decisions that are now in accordance with its nature. This concept of freedom removes the need
Flags burning under raining bombs, gunshots echoing through a field of raining terror, while hiding underground for the day where humanity can roam free again; situations as so aren’t exactly what people imagine when thinking about one’s future. Every death was honored by those who lived; lives lost during wars of any kind are unlike lives lost in our country today, not for the value of those once living are greater than another, but from how much those lives mean to this day. Establishment and preservation of freedom wasn’t easy and will never be easy; many people served until their last breath, for the freedoms of our lives today. That is why we must continue to grasp for freedom, and to establish and preserve our freedom most effectively we must have the heart to be free, and have united dedication to freedom itself.
Since the beginning of A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, the protagonist of the novel Ishmael endeavors to flee from the hardships enkindled by the RUF rebel organization that has amalgamated the country of Sierra Leone, officially making it a war zone. Moreover, for more than two years Ishmael has attempted to escape from the rebels, moving from village to village, rummaging through abandoned homes. Seemingly, the rebels would make their way to Ishmael, sweeping all villages. Deprived of food or any sign of hope surviving as a “lone wolf”, Ishmael enlisted in the Army of Sierra Leone to fight against the radical organization. Ishmael risked his life for the prime purpose of surviving and to pursue freedom. Furthermore, self-determination was one of the reasons for such bravery, but it was also due to specific objects that aided in Ishmael’s journey for freedom. Nonetheless, in his literary work, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, Ishmael Beah uses symbols to underscore his central theme of oppression and/or freedom. The most evident symbols that accentuate the theme of oppression and/or freedom are the moon, the rap cassette tape, and the AK-47.
The Gateway to Freedom is an enticing novel that gives further knowledge of racial discrimination and the social inequality of blacks at the time of slavery and how the Underground Railroad combatted this through the different committees and activists of the time. This essay will focus on how the Underground Railroad affected family, economy and religion- the social institutions, those who operated the Underground Railroad were diverse and have different reason for following the abolitionist movement, and not all the committees are made equally.
Our freedom is limited because we mistakenly misunderstood what the right to be free meant. Thomas Jefferson’s, “The Declaration of Independence,” argues in his 1776 draft that if the government goes against what people want, they have a right to rebel and form a new type of government. As well as, if there is an unbalanced amount of respect, we the people are turned down the right to a full voice and the activation of our rights. With that being said, he expressed American Freedom around what we were willing to risk for a change and what we would allow come between our wants and needs. Naomi Wolf’s, “Freedom is intended as a challenge,” explains The
As a child growing up in the United States education system you are often times introduced to documents like the Constitution as a basis for the ideals of freedom and equality in our nation. Despite the legislative and social progress made over the course of two hundred and forty year history as nation equality, especially amongst race and class, is still a pressing issue in America. With almost every stride taken towards the creation of this “land of the free” that includes women as well as racial minorities there is a harsh conservative and often times racist push back to meet it. These push backs can fall into a number of categories such as social a la the great revival of religion during the industrial revolution, political like the
In the United States of America, freedom is a common right that is often taken for granted.Freedom is the hardest right that exists not very many countries get to say that in their Constitution it states that everyone has freedom.My favorite gift you have given me and my generation is freedom if it was not for you guys, minorities would have never been freed and women would have been still pouring scotch into their husband's glasses.
What does freedom look like? The definition of freedom varies. When I think of freedom three words come to my mind, which are liberty, independence, and equality. The subject of freedom is very important in the United States because it has been our nation is built on. We should all be thankful for our freedom and independence.
The “freedom” we have in the United States, isn’t complete, just like everything else, it’s limited. We don’t have forced labor, yet we have minimal wages, which is nearly the same. We are not forced to do certain things, yet we are forced to do others, like pay taxes, for example. The American dream everyone hopes for, is just that, a dream, because the U.S government does anything to impede you from reaching it. They take your money away when they barely give you any. People make merchandise higher when the wages in the area rise. America is greedy for money. Because America gives us crumbs of freedom, we fool ourselves, believing that we are full of freedom.
Since this country's inception, America has been a haven of freedom for all its citizens. Beginning with the Pilgrims, who came to this new world in an effort to escape persecution for the fundamental aspects of their cultural identity. The Pilgrims show, that these freedoms existed even before this country decided to build its country foundation upon them. The men who founded this great nation, looked back in history as they penned what is now known as the Constitution. This unprecedented union´s law code was not brought to bear based entirely upon newly created principles. Rather, they employed principles from many other historical documents, including the Magna Carta, and George Mason´s 1776 Virginia Declaration of Rights.
Freedom has no universal definition; freedom is subjective by nature it means something different to everyone. For some freedom is physical such as wanting to free themselves from confinement. Physical freedom is most often sought by individuals seeking liberation from a controlling system such as prison or enslavement. This type of freedom is generally accepted as having the ability to move, eat, and live where you see fit without others permission. Physical freedom is the most simple and easiest type of freedom to grant; however, it is also often taken for granted especially in western societies. Being able to move from state to state or even country to country as seen in EU is a rarity in most of the world. This is especially true for women who in countries such as Saudi Arabia who “could not travel abroad without the approval of their male guardian.”(Amnesty
Picture a world where everyone is protected no matter the location where they live or their ethnicity. Sounds like a utopia doesn’t it? Imagine this same world, but the only reason for the safety is from a person dictating every part of their life, this idea of freedom has disappeared from the minds of people. People may disagree and say that they’d relinquish their freedom to know that they are safe, but that is only undermining everything their forefathers fought and died for.
Many ideas are important within the American culture, but to the American sense of patriotism, freedom is most fundamental. The idea of freedom is central to the American politics – which is at times referred to as liberty. Since the birth of the nation, freedom has been the vocabulary of the American language and its importance cannot be underestimated. The Declaration of Independence, for instance, ranks liberty as an inalienable right. On the other hand, the Constitution reckons that it purposes to protect civilians’ liberty. The importance of freedom has even stretched further than the political arena and has prompted the birth of civil rights movements and other activist protests. The Cold War and the Civil War were all for the cause of freedom. The importance that Americans attach to freedom can also be demonstrated from the erection of statues, banishment of slavery, use of liberty poles and a right to vote for adults. For many years, women and the African Americans have for a long time fought against denial and infringement of their freedom . However, given the importance that Americans affiliate to freedom in the conceptualization of their country, it has been the subject of modifications over the course of years especially before the Revolutionary War.
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.
The issue of freedom and the power that accompanies it, have occupied the history of human kind in the course of their existence. Mostly, this has emanated from the unequal distribution of these two key significant factors that revolve around the lives of humankind. Freedom and power have been subject of struggle. Various sections of human population endeavor to uphold their element of self-determination that is defined by these two important components. Scholars believe that that freedom and power cannot be separated if the intended meaning is aimed to be genuine and considerate. Many conflicts witnessed in the course of human history have been as a resultant of power and freedom with each section of the population trying to safeguard its own. The paper entails integration of concepts and the relation of freedom to power and change.
of us fail to cherish and value our granted freedom. Many of us do not