Oct 5, 2011 / Topic Ideas

What is freedom?

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  2. Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.
    Boo-yah! First Janis Joplin reference of the day.
    To be serious, though, I feel most free when I’m out of school, free for the 3 day weekend (no school on Fridays). No reason to look at my watch or the clock (other than around 7 on Sundays, so I don’t miss The Simpsons). No reasons to rush; I can do what I please, provided I have the money. I can go to Barnes & Noble and treat it like a library with expensive coffee, or I can leave my house at 3 in the morning and drive around until daybreak. Or I can fire up the laptop and spend the whole day tapping on the keys, which is what I should always be doing, but one of the perks of freedom is that you don’t necessarily have to do what you should.

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  4. Freedom for me is the state when i am able to do what i want to do which makes me feel happy & lets me share the joy with others, with as minimum restrictions & rules put on me.Atleast i will like a little less overlooking by the higher ups & elders….:P

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  5. Let me preface my reply by saying I am a Soldier. Freedom at work doesn’t fit. However, I had the freedom to serve or not. I have freedom to live where I want, take college, plan my career. I can help choose my government, and (within reason) say what I want.
    The only time I see it makes sense to have little freedom (coming from a parent) is as a child. Even then, my kids are allowed to tell me what they want to wear or eat (doesn’t always happen, but they can and do ask). They play freely and only are told no if it is dangerous or breakable. However, when I tell them to do something, I expect them to act immediately (usually they do). They have to say please and thank you, and that is non-negotiable.
    I thin Immanuel Kant’s thought in “Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals” is the best reason for freedom, and also a definition of it, “…the narrow footpath of freedom is the only one on which it is possible to make use of reason in our conduct…” His moral theory states that reason is imperative to morality and ethics. But it is also a good definition, freedom is the ability to act on and use reason.

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  8. wow. What is freedom haan. Its just being able to do whatever you wish too whenevr u can knowing that theres nothing or noone to stop or or ur freedom doesnt curb anyone else’s feedom.

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  10. I think freedom is when you’re able to make good decisions, because good decisions have positive results, whereas bad decisions have negative results which usually end up tying us down, taking freedom away.

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    1. Since we are just limited in what we know it’s hard to speak of “good” decisions. And I’m not entirely sure that positive decisions have positive results.
      Freedom for me is the liberty to choose not the quality of the option. And I like to believe that even “bad” decisions can have positive results.

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  11. I love what Jan Simson says.
    When you take bad decisions , you must take the consequence.
    For example, if you jump the lights and the same time you kill a person, not only you will be sentenced but also you will suffer psychologically.

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  12. Here’s two different ways to understand freedom: 1) Genuine freedom is all around us! We first encounter freedom as the freedom to act. Satisfying our biological needs frames this freedom. Free will and all it entails, is not just a response to biological stimulus, however. The freedom to avoid the unpleasant and pursue the pleasant has the indirect effect of creating the environment out of which all other freedoms are expressed.

    2) Embedded within limiting conditions, freedom seeks to liberate itself from these conditions. Biologically, one adapts to environmental conditions or dies. Sociologically, one works to do no harm, unseat evil with good, and injustice with justice. Psychologically, one wrestles with oppressive demons or surrenders.

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  16. La libertad… curiosa palabra para mi es una meta constante (libertad de expresión, libre de hacer lo que quiero.) aun que amis 18 casi nunca me he sentido libre, cuando pienso que soy libre en seguida me doy cuenta de que no del todo, tienes responsabilidades, cosas que hacer (obligaciones). A veces al despertar los domingos (día de no trabajar o ir a la escuela) parece un día tan tranquilo me gustaría poder quedarme acostada hasta las 9, pero no siempre se puede. con tantas cosas que hacer parece que tu tiempo fue absorbido y no te queda nada.

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  17. I remember a remark by a jazz teacher I once had. He said he thought freedom was being able to do whatever you wanted. But he soon found out that with composing, it was the opposite. The decisions needed to even begin a piece were astronomical and left him paralyzed to begin. Once his teacher gave him parameters, he began to feel an immediate sense of freedom as to where he could take the music. Over the years, I have learned that freedom is best served with parameters (example do unto others). You are no longer paralyzed by all the possibilities, but are free to work with the best case possibilities.

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  19. Freedom is that right qualifying one’s individual status as a human being. Freedom therefore demands equal opportunity for race, creed, nationality, gender, political or sexual orientation and social status.

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  20. Freedom is a blessing!

    I am from the United States but lived in Kuwait (for work reasons). Some freedoms that US citizens are use to are illegal in Kuwait. This includes alcohol, pork products, and pornography.

    It actually didn’t bother me & I respected their laws. The ban on alcohol is good because it’s not healthy for you to begin with plus it prevents drunk-driving fatalities from ever happening in their country.

    Inmates in America can get a FREE education while serving time in prison. Thanks to hard working tax payers but in other countries (which I will not disclose) prisoners are beaten and tortured! U.S. citizens are so lucky but occasionally act ungrateful for their freedom by abusing it. I am not bashing my own country I love America but we all know that I’m am telling the truth.

    Other countries have arranged marriages, no laws in place to protect children, etc… if some people only knew. (sigh)

    The moral of my comment boils down to one thing, “Don’t take your freedom for granted.”

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  22. I am tempted to write “Freedom just another word for nothing else to lose…”, but why should I write that. Freedom is a feeling inside. To be really free, one should realize that the inner life must have nutrition and it grows when reading, when thinking and studying one´s life from a view, which not is in the perspective of money and status – you are you and carry the freedom inside you, the freedom of thought…

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  23. Freedom is being able to say what you want to as long as you are not hurting someone else. It is the freedom to come and go freely without worrying about being watched or what type of clothing you wear. It is the freedom of choice.

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  24. Freedom is what I feel when I found a solution to my problem…It is a state where in you don’t feel any burden or any obligation.
    Freedom is the reason why I’m afraid to get married.hehehe

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  27. Freedom is a word where happiness and joyous intuitions collided and gave birth to a family of ultimate giggling high school girls. Freedom is somewhat the cousins of hatred and envy, but they do not go well with each other. They genuinely would love to have this imagination playing in their competitive minds whereby they killed, dismembered and tortured their relatives. Freedom is………………

    Read here: http://ellokhai.wordpress.com/2011/10/06/what-is-freedom/

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  29. Freedom is doing, for the rest of my life, what I love and passionate about. But in this sense, there also should be responsibility in this ‘freedom’ and make sure that their personal freedom doesn’t degrade your fellow man’s own freedom.

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