(with apologies to JJR)
2006-11-12 08:52:45 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
shame, you can touch anything of mine.
2006-11-12 09:02:12 · update #1
I liked Divinitus's answer until it mentioned sin.
Mumbo Jumbo religious nonsense is not required, ta very much.
2006-11-12 09:04:57 · update #2
Beautiful question thanks.
My humble opinion is that there are many chains that are holding back mankind (man) still today.
500 years ago the earth was flat. When we reached the conclusion that the earth was round, the earth did not change in shape. It was our perception of truth that changed. This change of paradigm allowed mankind to progress in unimaginable ways.
In the same way we need a change of paradigm today to break the chains that are holding back mankind.
Prejudices for example. Racial, religious, of class and gender are totally absurd in our age but we still cling to them. These are some of the modern day chains that hold back mankind.
2006-11-12 10:50:11 · answer #1 · answered by apicole 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
He sure is. He is chained to his nature and is plagued with its shortcomings whatever they may be. Carl Sagan the astronomer who directed the Cosmos series wondered why the SETI Project could not find any sign of other Universal civilizations. Although several scenarios were conjured up one that intrigued me was the projection that when all civilizations come to the point where they understand the workings of the atom and the obtain nuclear power and nuclear weapons they eventually destroy themselves as an advanced civilization and therefore can never progress to the stage where thought becomes free of prejudice and subjective alteration for personal agendas.
2006-11-12 09:22:02 · answer #2 · answered by a_gyno_guy 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Well, if you're a follower of Rousseau,
(Jean-Jacques Rousseau said: "Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains.")
then I suppose that's what you'd think.
But these days, I'd say there are a fair number without "chains."
I guess it all depends on your definition of "chains."
I don't think of myself as being "chained," but I imagine it could be argued that just because I don't SEE the chains (or because they're voluntary) that doesn't make me "unchained."
2006-11-12 08:59:01 · answer #3 · answered by johnslat 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Man is never born free, not spiritually or metaphysically speaking. He is often a prisoner to his own limits or to someone else's limits. And even if he (or she for that matter) is free somehow from these chains, people are always locked in the chains of sin. It's an unfortunate birth defect that effects all humanity.
2006-11-12 08:56:36 · answer #4 · answered by Divinitus 3 · 0⤊ 3⤋
Man is not even born free. Society in itself is a chain upon free thought, speech, and action. Only the animals are free, though we try to take their freedom away as well. Freedom is an illusion set upon us.
2006-11-12 09:01:10 · answer #5 · answered by stu b 2 · 1⤊ 2⤋
No we are born into a system of punishment and reward and have unnecessary necessities for survival i.e. money. We are not born free but we can become free only if we decide to give up everything we have.
2006-11-12 09:01:24 · answer #6 · answered by BluLizard 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Die Gedanken Sind Frei (Our Thoughts Are Free)
Die Gedanken sind frei
My thoughts freely flower,
Die Gedanken sind frei
My thoughts give me power.
No scholar can map them,
No hunter can trap them,
No man can deny:
Die Gedanken sind frei!
I think as I please
And this gives me pleasure,
My conscience decrees,
This right I must treasure;
My thoughts will not cater
To duke or dictator,
No man can deny--
Die Gedanken sind frei!
And if tyrants take me
And throw me in prison
My thoughts will burst free,
Like blossoms in season.
Foundations will crumble,
The structure will tumble,
And free men will cry:
Die Gedanken sind frei!
Neither trouble or pain
Will ever touch me again.
No good comes of fretting,
My hope's in forgetting.
Within myself still
I can think as I will,
But I laugh, do not cry:
Die Gedanken sind frei!
-- Traditional
2006-11-12 09:09:41 · answer #7 · answered by Rico Toasterman JPA 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
as soon as a person's head comes out of the womb a collar is put around its neck.
2006-11-12 10:18:16 · answer #8 · answered by Stand-up Philosopher 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
That romanticists nonsense has been refuted historical and scientifically for some time. Rousseau is dead; and was dead wrong.
2006-11-12 09:44:59 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
No, I saw the hospital bill.
2006-11-12 08:56:13 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋