is freedom a concept, an idea? If not where would you say it exists in the world?

Question

Im not talking here of freedom from anything! Purely freedom.In the sense boundless with intelligence.

Answer 1

When the mind is free of all illusions then that's freedom. Our mind is a prisoner of knowledge, Ideas, concept, principles, race religion, politics faith, beliefs and etc. without understanding these prisons, the mind cannot discover and live with the unknown or the unlimited intelligence. It must happen during our lifetime.

Answer 2

When my dad was teaching me to play rugby he often said something like "its only illegal if the ref sees you". A little cynical I guess but it is true in the real world at large. If you buy an island and make it a sovereign state then you are free to practice what ever you want but then other countries will always be watching. If you have something they want or do something they don't like then they'll 'be in like Flynn.'. So in reality there is no pure freedom for man anywhere in the world. The problem with true freedom is that there is no basis for a stable society. Who is to stop anyone else from raping pillaging and murdering? freedom is a relative concept in this context. Freedom to do as you please provided you don't do it to someone else without their sound minded consent, pay your taxes, don't park on double yellows and so on.

Answer 3

Grasping here and grasping there
Is it to not feel emotion, to be free from a care?
No, that is escapism, the wise man knows,

Is it possible to find it in this body from the head to the toes?
Can we find it a thousand leagues under the sea,
Or can we sit on the moon (in an astronaut's suit) happily?

The answer exists I sense that it's near
but to find it I might have to give up the fear,
to release the self,
the id, the ego,
to turn the mind inwards
and observe the flow
and when consciousness has been harnessed
and the mind is quiet
then it's where?

It's inside you, it's around you,
it's nowhere and everywhere
for it is the minds state.

Hey, at least it rhymes, mostly!

Answer 4

To have complete freedom, you need anarchy.
But Anarchy does not work because as human beings, we are attracted to power, and if we had complete anarchy, the some one would try to controll that, wich contridicts the concept of anarchy.
So I guess freedom is just a good concept, unless every single person in the world thinks the exact same, we will have laws, and rules. Those laws and rules contridict the concept of freedom.

Answer 5

Freedom means different things to different people- there are different concepts of liberty- for example in Rousseau you find a concept of positive liberty, that liberty is the power to do something a beggar therefore is not free because though theoretically he could own a mansion, practically he can't. Hobbes on the other hand disagreed he argued that freedom was negative, that it was the absense of restraint not the presence of power which defined freedom- so that even though the beggar couldn't own the mansion he was free to. There is a third concept of liberty as well related to how you take choices in life- so that the only choice which is free is one that you have chosen without being forced to choose- therefore the beggar is not free because he can't choose to reject work.

As for where freedom is found most- depends on your concept- the negative concept is probably found most in North America at the moment but it depends on your theory of freedom.

http://gracchii.blogspot.com/

Answer 6

How is one "free"? Not a slave? Does not live in a dictatorship? Not bound by rules and regulations? Free to do whatever one wishes? the answer to all these quaetions is no. For to have complete freedom the rights of someone other than yourself must be subjectated and therefore not free. for to be free means to do what ever you want but you cant do that in the real world as it means you could opress others. The only place one can find real freedom, even from the most horrid opression possilbe is in the recluse of ones mind. "Forever Free Shall Remain the Freethinkers"

Answer 7

Freedom is a state of mind and body which are free to do what they want Probably a century back a man could be free in Himalayan isolation. Now even the remotest corner of this earth is under surveillance hence there is no place where one can be free.

Answer 8

Have you seen Waking Life? It talks about whether or not we have free will or if some higher source or predetermined fate is in control...is freedom an illusion? A lot of philosophers agree that it in fact is, like absolutists. Existentialism is great because it gives us complete freedom, but we must accept the consequences of our choices.

Answer 9

If you're not willing to tie yourself down to specific realisations of the idea of freedom, then the question is empty.

Obviously the idea of freedom exists, or you wouldn't be able to ask the question at all. Concrete examples of it are somewhat harder to come by. Come back when you have a real question.

Answer 10

Freedom is a concept since it embodies many ideas. In the sense you mean it, it does not exist in the world or in life. Life is bounded therefore cannot be limitless.