Somethings about freedom... Could it even exist?

Question

freedom is such a strange thing to think about. I am free to be protected from killers but killers are not suppose to be free to kill. For every law we lose a freedom, for every lack of a law we lose a freedom just as in this example given. If it was legal for killers to kill i would not be free to not worry about being killed. So really, we can't be any more free or less free at any time due to this. But since the laws set up by people can be broken anyway and they are just suppose to have consequence that may or may not occur, we are actually free to do anything we can imagine and are capable to do. Yet, in the end, I believe that everything is determined anyway since there is no other factor to determine our actions other then our past and maybe genetics, and anything else would have to be attributed to randomness, which is not attributed to free will either. So everyone is entirely without freewill despite their making choices.

Answer 1

Hmmm....very interesting. Quite thought-provoking.

With all due respect, however, I think there may be a flaw in your argument. You state, "I am free to be protected from killers but killers are not suppose to be free to kill." First of all, protection from killers isn't a freedom, per se; it's the *illusion* of freedom simply because a consequence happens to exist for murder. But laws exist fundamentally as a means of deterring future illegal acts. If murder has already been committed, freedom of protection for the victim never truly existed.

Second, your assumption is that we are not free to act as we will because of the potential consequences. If this were true, murder would not happen because the consequence of such action would be a sufficient deterrent. As we so often see in the news, it isn't sufficient; bad things happen all the time.

You also state, "If it was legal for killers to kill i would not be free to not worry about being killed." The problem is that, though it isn't legal for people to kill, the fact remains that they DO kill. Some get caught and punished for their crimes, some get away with it. This necessarily means that peope ARE free to kill, they just run the risk of being punished for it. So there is no true freedom from potential danger. True freedom comes from the absence of threat. Only if murder can be *prevented* 100% of the time will we truly be free from the threat.

But I may just be splitting semantic hairs here, and we actually agree more than disagree on this so far. The fatal flaw in your argument comes in that I think your entire argument rests on the hypothesis of predetermination. "I believe that everything is determined anyway since there is no other factor to determine our actions other then our past and maybe genetics..." But in truth, our histories and genetics only go so far. People exercise freewill all the time, despite these influences. For example, genetics may determine that a daughter born of an alcoholic father inherits the "drinking gene," and yet she chooses not to drink. Another example: statistically speaking, physically abused children are far more likely to abuse their own children than those who weren't abused. And yet a man who was beaten and berated all the years he lived at home, grows up to be gentle with his own children. I've seen first hand both of these examples. There are many, many more anecdotes of this nature. Actions aren't predetermined; people *choose* to act as they will. But as Dr. Phil says, "If you choose the behavior, you choose the consequences." It's largely freewill, my friend.

Thanks for stimulating my brain!

Answer 2

Freedom can exist. But it's not the kind of freedom that people actually want. Freedom is being free to do anything, even killing. And you're right, we are in fact all free to do anything within our capabilities, regardless if there are consequences or not. So thinking of it like that would mean that it's actually impossible NOT to be free, unless you're in a cage or your actions are limited by the world some other way.

But there are laws to cage us if we do certain things, so some might argue that we are not free because there is a force hired to cage us if we break the rules they make for us...

I guess it all depends on what you think freedom is...

But it can be many things...

Answer 3

If you are talking about freewill;

Let's say everything is determined. You wrote this because you determined. You will kill because you determined. If you do not have free will, so leave yourself like a determined leaf in air.

..but leaving yourself will change everything differently, that's why you don't do it.So free-will seems necessary.

Moreover in a world without free-will, how is it possible a concept like "Free Will"?How could humans think like"There is free-will"while they are not able to think?

To conclude,even it is like that,we do not know it is true or not.So there is a chance for us,not being determined. Believing there is free-will will not change anything if we are determined but if we aren't...

...It will change everything. We cannot take that risk.

Answer 4

Well there is a freedom that we all have...which is a freedom to think what we want...the freedom to an opinion. We have the freedom to percieve any situation in any way we like, I like to find the good spiritual side of everything. That's my free will, my choice. I like to feel the freedom of knowing that things don't actually happen at random, and that the whole world works based on laws that can be harnessed to experience life as I want it to be...

Answer 5

Then freedom could exist in case you stopped questioning approximately how others see you and stopped attempting to stay as much as someones expectancies. actual, it relatively is complicated yet no longer impossible. I even have lived and experienced it. It does exist. the only chains and shackles that bind you're those you enable your self to be sure by making use of. don't be hectic nonetheless, extra commonly then no longer we want those chains and shackles. they are in a position to surely convey convenience.

Answer 6

yes and no in the same time, freedom has it's oun meaning, if you crossed the line, you would be in huge problem. and here comes the word freedom, in that case; it became annoyed.
Freedom for every body but it still serounded by a cirle which you don't need to cross it.In Human being rights they gave you th freedom to act, to do anything you want with one condition, you got to watch your behavior , spielly if they were wrong.now what would you do if your freedom became a nightmare! think about it.

Answer 7

It existed for some in garden of Eden before Adam and Eve got thrown out.

Answer 8

That's the worst argument for determinism that I ever heard.
Randomness is the antitheses of determinism. Free will and freedom are different concepts. Freedom of choice is limited by your options - duh. Oh, what the hell, if you can make so many logical errors, correcting the premises won't help anyway.

Answer 9

Welcome to America...where everyone has their rights violated in order to preserve the rights of the minority. Don't believe in Christmas? Fine, force me to take down my nativity scene because you have the right not to have to look at it.

Answer 10

Go to bed Dude.