While many words throughout the English language can paint a vivid image or idea, the word freedom is perhaps one of the most ambiguous. “It is defined as the following: the fact of not being controlled by subject or fate; the power of self-determination attributed to will” (“Freedom”). Its definition cannot be simplified into one dimension, and its interpretation is completely contextual. The reason that the definition from the Oxford English Dictionary was given prior, was due to its broadness; making it a more well-suited definition to describe the concept of freedom. In analyzing freedom, similar words will be discussed, freedom’s characteristics described, and examples given, in order to illustrate the word and some of its many uses.
When observing words considered synonymous with freedom, such as liberty, right, ability, privilege, unrestraint, and so forth, it can quickly be discovered that such words describe types of freedom. A person viewed as unrestrained, or having little or no constraints, could be considered free or having the most possible freedom. However, consider the following: if someone went out to vote for a particular political figure and a man put a gun to their head, telling them to vote for that same person, they are limited in your choices. Despite not being allowed to vote for any others, they retain freedom in the sense that they are allowed to carry out their initial intentions. Someone who is anomic, or whose wants are in a constant state of flux, is typically able to carry out whatever they want to do. Such a person, who has no control of their impulses, could be considered as having less freedom due to such circumstances. Based on this idea, it could be argued that someone with little to no constrai...
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...s restrictive and it is liberating. Freedom is morally and logically ambiguous. It is a word whose meanings are held in the highest regard, and used to instill great oppression. Everyone strives toward freedom whether they realize it or not. Whether they strive to be free from disease, heartache, responsibility, or anything else, it’s the ability to make such changes that makes the idea beautiful. One could even go so far as to argue that freedom to change things, no matter how insignificant, is the most important ability that anyone or any thing could possess. Because in a world without opportunities such as freedom, what’s the point of living at all?
Works Cited
Feinberg, Joel. "The Concept of Freedom." Social Ethics: Classical & Applied. Comp. Thomas C. Carroll. Dubuque: Kendall Hunt, 2012. 9-16. Print.
“Freedom.” Oxford English Dictionary. 3rd ed. 2008. Web.
Patterson pinpoints three different variations of freedom. Personal freedom is defined as giving a person a sense that, in one aspect, he or she is not forced or controlled by another person into doing something preferred. In addition, within another aspect, one can do as one pleases within limits of that other person wish to do the same. Patterson refers to Sovereignal or organic freedom as basically the authority to act as one pleases, without respect for others, or simply the capacity to enforce one’s will on another. Civic freedom is defined as the capacity of adult members of a community to partake in its life and authority. (Walton Jr & Smith, 2015)
Foner focuses, specifically, on how the definition of liberty has been molded over time. He describes how other factors played a role in the change of liberty using three interrelated themes. The first theme, as he describes it, covers the dimensions or meanings of freedom. The dimensions include “political freedom, or the right to participate in public affairs… civil liberties, or rights that individuals can assert against authority…[and] moral or ‘Christian’ ideal of freedom,” the freedom to act morally or ethically good (Foner xvii). It also includes personal freedom or being able to make individual choices free from coercion, and “economic freedom…[which covers how] the kinds of economic relations constitute freedom for… [individual’s working lives]” (Foner xviii). All these dimensions are looked at individually as they play a role in reshaping the definition of freedom or liberty.
freedom as long as one does not disturb others in their state of nature; in this
God has given us as human beings free will. Although if we make choices based on our own free will we must be willing to take the responsibility for the effects that our decisions have on ourselves, on the people around us, and on society itself. Freedom, I believe, is the way in which people live or behave without others annoying or interfering in his or her affairs. People should benefit from freedom, equality and justice. Absolute freedom is sometimes very dangerous and may destroy the basic principles of the society. A lot of people believe that freedom means doing whatever you want, whenever you want.
History is taught and perceived in different ways throughout the country, however historians and teachers play a major role in how history is understood. My history teacher made me understand that the African-American slaves suffered adversity in different manners but never explained how their efforts led to a revolution in America. This gap has been filled by David Roediger in his book Seizing freedom where he reminds us of what we have missed in our prominent and scholarly accounts of emancipation and what we might gain by revisiting an era when “profound and unimaginable changes exploded” across the country(p.9). In reference to WEB Du Bois analysis of Civil war as workers strike, David Roediger accounts for the upsurge and
When one hears the word freedom, one associates it with the words independence and liberty. It means that a person is able to exist freely without any limits, as it is their god-given right to do so. While this is true, the definition of freedom changes based on the context of the situation. During the time of slavery, freedom had a unique meaning to each person who was subjected to slavery. In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass explores what the unique and complex meaning of freedom based off his experiences and knowledge of slavery.
According to Dictionary.com freedom means “the state of being uncontrolled by another, or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint.” Freedom. What does freedom mean to you? Even though freedom means the state of being uncontrolled by another, or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint, I believe that freedom means being able to accomplish what you desire and when you desire it without anyone saying anything, by reason of the comparison and contrast of our society and the society in the book Anthem by Ayn Rand, the negation of the word freedom, and synonyms of the word freedom. I believe that you should accept the consequences of the actions you take when you have your “freedom” as well.
According to the Collins Dictionary, “freedom” is defined as “the state of being allowed to do what you want to do”(“freedom”). The definition of freedom is simple, but make yourself free is not easy. Concerning about some common cases which will take away your freedom, such as a time-cost high education attainment. In this essay, I shall persuade that everyone should try his or her best to insist on pursuing freedom. For the individual, it appears that only if you have your personal freedom, can you have a dream; for a country, it seems that only if the country is free, can the country develop; for mankind, it looks like that only if people has their own pursuit of freedom, can their thoughts evolve.
In his book, Thomas Hobbes argued that freedom is comprised when there are no outer impediments towards a person when engaging in what he desires to do: “Unregulated agent is that one can engage in what he wills and bear as per desire that liberty is absenteeism of outer impediments.” According to this definition, free will is the ability of a person to make a decision without being prevented or obstructed by any part. Another philosopher (Hume) defined freedom- liberty, as power of doing or of not doing, as per the d...
Freedom is having the right to own, act, think, and speak without any restrictions from the outside. Ever since the New World was discovered, people have been fighting for their independence till this day. People of other colors and race have been forced to do labor without their consent. Today, those same people have been blamed or accused of crimes that were not committed by them despite of being free. Freedom has different meanings and those meanings change overtime; however sometimes the significance of freedom does not change.
Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty. 3rd ed. Vol. Two. New York: Norton &, 2011. Print.
Freedom is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. In America there is numerous of choices that someone may make on a daily basis. If someone were allowed to make their own choices and were being told what to do; then they would not be free. When someone is allowed to speak when they want to, and say what they want; such as their opinion or view of something. Being allowed to have a right to speak is one of the most important characteristics of being an American. Thinking and stating your opinion in any predicament it a strong part in being a citizen because people in the United States are known for being able to think in their own ways. Freedom can stretch too many things such as being able to do as they please, they are not forced into doing anything that someone may want. The citizens of the United States are not made to do anything that one may not want to do; like
Nothing in life is guaranteed, but the one thing that humans demand is freedom. Throughout history, there are countless cases where groups of people fought for their freedom. They fought their battles in strongly heated debates, protests, and at its worst, war. Under the assumption that the oppressors live in complete power, the oppressed continuously try to escape from their oppressors in order to claim what is rightfully theirs: the freedom of choice. In Emily Dickinson’s poems #280, #435, and #732 and Harriet Jacobs’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, freedom is represented by an individual’s ability to make their own decisions without the guidance, consultation, or outside opinion of others in order to find their true sense of self. Once an individual is physically and spiritually free, they can find their true sense of self.
Cahn, Steven M. and Peter Markie, Ethics: History, Theory and Contemporary Issues. 4th Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.
Freedom is a human value that has inspired many poets, politicians, spiritual leaders, and philosophers for centuries. Poets have rhapsodized about freedom for centuries. Politicians present the utopian view that a perfect society would be one where we all live in freedom, and spiritual leaders teach that life is a spiritual journey leading the soul to unite with God, thus achieving ultimate freedom and happiness. In addition, we have the philosophers who perceive freedom as an inseparable part of our nature, and spend their lives questioning the concept of freedom and attempting to understand it (Transformative Dialogue, n.d.).