Karin S.

Steinl

BSA 3B

March 19, 2014

The Ultimate Dream for Freedom

Freedom has been an interesting topic the last few days as it was discussed to be the
choice of man of which he freely makes. However this freedom is only exercised up to the extent
of what man is capable of doing. Personally, I have made some observations on the concept that
man calls freedom.
Freedom is not absolute1. This is drawn from the concept that man cannot defy the laws
of nature. As much as man would like to defy gravity freely on earth, he cannot and will never
succeed. From that kind of perspective, freedom is restricted. The laws of nature govern the
choices of freedom and therefore influence the decisions man makes in his life 2. But if man
recognizes freedom from the inside accepting all outside restrictions he still is able to exercise
his freedom within the given boundaries of nature. Recognizing that freedom comes from the
internal and not from the external is essential to mans knowledge about freedom. Man cannot
defy gravity from the external but he can from the internal. As much as his body cannot fight
gravity his mind can. By thinking or imagining that he can defy gravity he is able to freely defy it
and thus he exercises his freedom. The example however is very shallow compared to what
freedom is known to be.
When one thinks of freedom he automatically associates it to freewill or freedom of
choice which is not wrong by the way. Sometimes however this freedom is restricted because of
laws, morals, good customs and public policy3. Although these restrictions stop us from acting in
our freedom they are at the same time there to allow others to exercise their own freedom.
Nobody should be subject to restriction of freedom wherein he falls to become a victim of
1 Keith Farrell, Freedom is not Absolute: The Subjective and Relative Nature of
Human Liberty
2 Kadri Vihvelin, "Hard Determinism". In Edward N. Zalta. The Stanford Encyclopedia
of Philosophy
3 Jim Riley, Free Will and Determinism

another who exercises his freedom. It is but just and fair for all persons to share the same
freedom without violating the freedom of another. That is why when people commit serious
crimes against others their sense of freedom in this material world is constrained by putting them
into jail. There they will understand the value of freedom as they will realize how nice it was to
be free. Having observed movies, although they are not as credible as they seem to be, prisoners
are subjected to restriction of freedom, especially in the old ages where their prison cells where
dungeons. It was portrayed that prisoners were not given adequate food and comfort. They had to
sleep, eat, and defecate in the same room for the rest of their imprisonment life. Yet they were
still able to think freely because thought is something that cannot be limited.
It is human nature to be free4. Nobody likes to be controlled by another. Nobody likes to
be a puppet of a puppeteer. Man is born to make decisions and choices of his own. He can be
influenced in making decisions but the final say always boils down to his own decision. As much
as he would like to decline the fact that he is not influenced there will always be a small hint of
influence in his daily choices. As an individual grows he experiences different people in his life
and gets to understand their own principles and perceptions of different kinds of situations. Their
opinions will matter and it is up to the individual himself to accept these opinions or not. The
laws created by man are also influencers since they dictate some of the daily actions man makes.
He follows the rules so he wont get in trouble, thus it becomes his way of life by influencing his
decisions. Church rules are included and so is the social media. Mass media, especially, is one of
the greatest tools of manipulation. It can change ones perspective in a blink. As he becomes
exposed to these influences, he becomes more aware of himself and his surroundings. He is
given a choice of what to accept and what not to accept. If he accepts these influences they
become his and when he does not accept them they dont. The thing is, when he does not accept
an opinion it will be his opinion not to accept them thus it still will become a part of his choice
making in life. So does this really become freedom when we somehow are dictated by influences
regardless of accepting them or not? Does it still count? I think it still does. As long as the
individual is acting upon himself and towards others in a manner he would like to and at the
same time does not violate the freedom of others, it is still considered freedom. Man does not
4Sir Thomas More, The Political Philosophy of Sir Thomas More

choose his environment to be brought up with neither does he choose his social standing but man
can choose what he can do with his life coming from that background. It is never about what
man was but what man will become.
Man is free to choose but not free from the consequence of his choice A universal
paradox5. The actions of man always correspond to an eventual result. For example, if Sarah
wants to drink coffee instead of tea before going to bed she will eventually have a hard time
sleeping knowing that coffee is coffee. But upon realization by Sarah, she chooses tea instead so
she will not have a hard time sleeping. Sarah was free to choose but the consequence of that
choice was not. The statement above can also be rephrased in such a matter that the
consequences of her choice becomes a guide to her free and final choice. The end has a direct
influence on the means knowing the cause and effect concept. Thus our freedom depends on
what we really want. The quote above can also be seen in a more serious perspective. For
example, David has committed a crime and for that he will be punished for 3 year imprisonment.
David freely chose his choice knowing that there will be consequences for invading the freedom
of others. He may have thought that he would not get caught or that the consequence, if caught,
is still bearable. But in the end he still had a result from executing his choice, becoming a
criminal.
God has created man and planned mans destiny6. This statement also made many wonder
whether freedom was just a word. Since God has created man and since it was mentioned in the
bible that God knew what man will become it creates a conclusion that man is not really free of
his destiny. Destiny, many say, is meant to be and thus cannot be changed. Although it is
arguable that man can change his destiny by changing his actions, is he really changing his
destiny if it was destined to be that he will change his actions? Until the time machine will be
invented, man will never know. So freedom just becomes a word man thinks or calls freedom.
God has a plan for everyone and it is up to man to follow it. This somehow gives notion that man
is still able to choose but it seems to be limited of choice. It is either to follow or not to follow,
5Darin Penzera, Why men deserve Justice- free will and the lie of determinism
6 Rick Warren, God Planned Your Destiny Long Before Your Birth

because even if he chooses to follow Gods path for a moment and not in another it still results to
choosing not Gods Path. Just like the concept of half-truths being whole lies. So as man
becomes torn into choosing from two extreme absolutes he is given at least a chance of choice.
True freedom is absolutely good. In the past lessons in philosophy, it was discussed that
all ideas are perfect. Just like Love, Justice, and Truth all of these ideas are perfect in the world
of forms7. But since man only lives in a world of copies or the imperfect world he only can
comprehend freedom up to that limit. He will never fully understand perfect freedom because he
himself is imperfect. If he is given somehow the power to understand freedom perfectly he
himself becomes perfect. He becomes somewhat like a god because only God the creator is
perfect. So as of now, what man considers to be freedom is not even the final and true form of
freedom at all. For example, a painter paints a picture on the canvass. He uses different colors
and tries different techniques. Man is just one pixel in that very large picture. He will never see
the whole picture unless he stands next to the artist from above. Man knows that he is part of that
picture but he does not know what part of the picture. The artist places the pixel exactly where he
wants it to be for the full picture to be realized. It is up to man however to figure out his destiny.
On My Perspective
If I would apply all these concepts to myself in a given situation I could say that I had the
total freedom to choose my course. I did but I was not sure what to choose. It would have been a
medical path or architecture because pursuing the Arts was not a so called good option in this
material world. Yet, here I am taking up a business related course. Indeed my friends and
teachers have influenced me to choose this and I believe that it was not wrong either. The
discipline of my course requires me to study and learn every day. I dont just say everyday just
for the sake of this paper but it is actually really EVERYDAY. I have the freedom to choose
whether to study or not but one thing that I am sure of is that the day I will stop studying will
also be the day where failure to finish my course will commence. My actions have a direct
impact on my future. This is certainly logical but when I started to consider my future, I have
realized that my freedom to act in certain ways becomes restricted because of the fear from the
7 Plato, Theory of Forms

possible consequences. There were times, wherein I thought that freedom was taken away from
me because of the heavy loads of quizzes, exams and requirements. I really would feel tired but
luckily I found a world wherein I can escape-My Dreams. I have learned how to control my
dreams and this allows me to do things in my dreams that I was not able to do in real life because
of constraints. I am truly free in my dreams and not even my fears can stop me. Although, before
all this was possible I had to overcome sleep paralysis episodes. The school nurse said that it was
just probably stress plus irregular sleeping schedules. I really do believe that this is true, but Id
like also to believe myself. My guide in my dream taught me how to overcome it. The secret was
to just let go of fear. I was able to discover new areas of my subconscious and I have locked the
door for fear in my dreams (literally), and even if some fear manages to escape I am still able to
overcome it. To be honest, I have never felt so light and stress free because of my dreams. There
are also drawbacks from discovering this kind of freedom. From the first five minutes from
waking up, I have difficulty in segregating what is true and what is not. The dreams sometimes
distort what I believe to be real. But after some time of reflection I am able to segregate what is
from what is not. I have the power, the freedom to do all these kinds of things because I am alive,
because God gave me life.
The mind and its imagination is the greatest form of freedom that God has given. I
personally believe that the mind is a very colorful creation by God. There is no limit in our
imagination. This is where man is truly free. Nobody can stop him from thinking and believing.
The only thing that stops man from thinking is his own death. Actually man cannot even say that
death stops him from thinking. There is no proof of the soul without a body being capable of
thinking, but it would be great if this was true because when the soul without the body exists and
is able to think then man never really died. If the soul without the body truly does exist and I
believe it does, then it could be said that death frees us from our lifes suffering. Death is the
portal for eternal freedom. The freedom man has never experienced but will have to go through
at some point in his life. This freedom is all that man has longed for yet he is not really sure if
this idea is true. This could all be fiction but then again nobody knows what comes after death.
Does it bring man to heaven or hell or does it just turn into a dream sequence of eternal sleep.
There are so many possibilities. Man is free to do anything. He is even free to give up life and

join death, but since God has given man the freedom to live it is but just and right that God will
take it back whenever he likes. Who is man to question God? It is true that man never really
decided to live when he was brought to life. God gave him life and God decided to let him live.
Our freedom is on how we will live this God given gift of life. In the end, its not about
living and dying but on what choices one makes to create a beautiful journey between it.