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The idea that a person is free is at the very heart of all existential teachings and beliefs. A great part of existentialist belief is that a person's freedom is actually a burden on their lives. I disagree with the statement that freedom is a burden. The existentialist belief that being free is a burden is false because being free is what makes us human. An individual is free to make any decision that they want and they alone are responsible for the outcome. The freedom that we as humans possess is all that’s truly ours. From the aspect that freedom is a burden, an existentialist can make the clear point that freedom isn’t a positive attribute to living a “human” existence. Our freedom is all we genuinely have in life; the idea of humans having a purpose or destiny is false. The waning prosperity that humans can enjoy from believing they have purpose is detrimental to the fact that their freedom is a burden. Humans have no “meaning”, “unlike an egg timer that’s created for the purpose of cooking an egg, human beings have no particular purpose”. So we are free to do what is pleasing, and this is what can bring us happiness, freeing us from our burdens. The true burden that people are …show more content…
afflicted by is that they can not live “happy” lives. To live a life that is happy the acceptance of oneself and allowing for vulnerability is what can propagate a life that does not carry regret. Our own vulnerability is the unknown and “vulnerability is the most important aspect to living a full life, yet we struggle with it.” Freedom is not a burden due to the fact that with freedom humans can achieve so much. What humans can fulfill in life is endless and our ensuing happiness is boundless. Freedom does not include time. How time passes and its influence is out of the control of humanity. However, is it possible to ignore time? No. The physical effects of time passing is inevitable and humans seek time and the dictation of time, in a schedule as solace from the ideas of the inevitable. Time is quantified by humans with the purpose of breaking every duration down into a smaller subdivision. Creating accomplishment through a loose association of what you have completed. The passage of time allows humans to live in the now and be free. They are able to escape the paradigm that freedom is a burden and just be happy. In order to decide if we are happy we compare ourselves to others.
Happiness is important for fully enjoying freedom. The French artists of Café Guerbois thought that they were unhappy. They were poor, struggling, and most importantly not in the Salon. Likewise, while attending Brown University, Caroline Sachs, felt that she was unhappy and dissatisfied compared to her other classmates. She was learning what she loved, yet she still wasn’t happy. If she was going to compare herself, if she was going to compete she had to be successful. At its very essence the idea of being happy and fulfilled is in direct competition with not having a purpose and that our freedom is a burden. To take full advantage of the freedom we have and to not be burdened we must seek and achieve
happiness. The statement made by existentialists that freedom is a burden is false because it is freedom that allows humans to be humans. Humans can live fulfilling lives and avert the burden “attained” by their freedom because of their freedom. We are not free from time but it simply does not matter because time is used to comfort us from the unknown and although we cannot control time humans do not let it burden them. Humans have no purpose, yet we live fulfilling lives by simply existing without regrets. As Mark Twain so excellently made it clear that, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”, thus encompassing the idea that time is but a virtue of life and the living without regrets brings happiness; this ultimately frees one from the supposed burden of freedom. Making it true that freedom is not a burden.
In the essay Why Happiness, Why Now? Sara Ahmed talks about how one’s goal in life is to find happiness. Ahmed begins her essay with skepticism and her disbeliefs in happiness. She shows her interest in how happiness is linked to a person’s life choices. Ahmed also tries to dig deeper, and instead of asking an unanswerable question, “what is Happiness?” she asks questions about the role of happiness in one’s life.
Killinger, John. "Existentalism and Human Freedom." The English Journal 50 (1961): 303-13. JSTOR. Web. 12 Aug. 2008.
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.
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.
In the world, people are wired to hunt for happiness, but what they are really deeming for is satisfaction. Happiness and satisfaction are similar, but not the completely the same. Satisfaction is the content feeling you get after a big meal or taking a long nap on a Sunday afternoon, while happiness is a chosen factor that can only be achieved through willpower. Many try and search the external world for the happiness that lies within. Clarisse asks Montag if he is happy, and when he realizes he is not, he turns to knowledge to find it (Bradbury 10).
Happiness plays an important and necessary role in the lives of people around the world. In America, happiness has been engrained in our national consciousness since Thomas Jefferson penned these famous words in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Jefferson). Since then, Americans have been engaged in that act: pursuing happiness. The problem however, as Ray Bradbury demonstrates in his novel Fahrenheit 451, is that those things which make us happy initially may eventually lead to our downfall. By examining Guy Montag, the protagonist in Fahrenheit 451, and the world he lives in we can gain valuable insights to direct us in our own pursuit of happiness. From Montag and other characters we will learn how physical, emotional, and spiritual happiness can drastically affect our lives. We must ask ourselves what our lives, words, and actions are worth. We should hope that our words are not meaningless, “as wind in dried grass” (Eliot).
be content enough to drive slower and get home in one piece even if it
Another important existentialist concept is that everyone is completely accountable for his or her actions. “We have neither behind us, nor before us in a luminous realm of values, ...
Existentialism is a phiosophy which revolves around the central belief that we create ourselves. External factors are not important. It is the way that we let external factors affect us that determines who we are. As individuals we all have the freedom to choose our own path and that is what life is all about. Along with the freedom of choice comes the responsibilty of one's actions which can make some people anxious but give others meaning to their lives. To overcome this anxiousness and accept responsibilty is to meet the challenges of life and to truly live it. I can adopt the existentialist approach which states that to live life is to experience happiness and absurdness and to appreciate both as a part of life.
The article discusses happiness and a few of the many complications associated with happiness. The article is named “Nation The Happiness of Pursuit.” The authors Kluger, Aciman, and Steinmetz wrote this article for “Time Magazine”. It discusses happiness in many ways, including details about what happiness is from a neurological and physical standpoint. The article begins by examining how Americans were happy in the past and
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.).
Freedom makes people feel a life; L.I.F.E means live in freedom every day. However, what is freedom? Is freedom “the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint” (Google)? Or, is it “the right to do or say what you want” (Bradbery 290)? So, I think both of them are right. Freedom means many things for a lot of people; it may a feeling, a dream, and a goal that a lot of people fight for, in many centuries. Today, a lot of countries agree that freedom is a key of a successful country because it creates a better environment to live for people, make people more satisfied with their live, open mind to design the future and choice the own way to live. For example, America, United Kingdom, France, South Korea, Japan, Singapore are some of higher freedom country. The people in these countries are really satisfied with their life, and a lot of them have a good future also. Also, the economic, in these countries, are often higher than other countries, had less freedom, such as North Korea. On the other hand, if people live without freedom, they will become hopeless, stressful, unhappy, feel lost, no voice, and no choice in their society. Euripides, a Greek playwright, says “A slave is he who cannot speak his thoughts” (Picture Quotes.) So, without freedom, people are just a slave for their countries or their
What does it mean to be “truly free”? When asking this question on the street, the majority of people might reply that being “truly free” is having the ability to do anything without restriction. In truth, this is a common misunderstanding of freedom. Freedom, at its core, is the ability for people to do what they ought, not simply what they want. In order to be truly free, one should have the power to act, to speak, and to think as he or she ought, not only without hindrance but also without affecting his or her surroundings.
But in this debate, one question still raises its head - What is happiness? Happiness is not actually leading a luxurious life, but the luxury of living a life. Happiness is not actually about expanding your business, but it lies in expanding the horizons of life. Happiness is not having a meal in the most famous restaurant, but having it with your most beloved family. It does not lie in attending honorable parties, but to attend a party with honor.
Freedom, a seven lettered word that varies in meaning for every individual. Freedom is the basis of human rights, without the freedom to do as one please, one feels confine. This confinement leads to many interesting tales of human curiosity expanding and exploring, such as Leonardo DiCaprio fascination with corpses or the escaping of where freedom is not a necessity such as North Korea. There are many aspects to freedom, it is reflected in actions, decisions and thought. In existentialism, one’s philosophical approach is that one is free and is the deciding factor of everything that they choose in their life. In existentialism since one has ultimate freedom in everything, without any authority deciding for them, this vast array of thought that can come for anyone from anywhere creates hell for others, because one is unable to control others.