can you prove to me that freedom is only something instilled in your mind, and that it's not real?
2007-07-22 03:12:22 · 8 answers · asked by kia 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
You cannot prove something that is not real.
It is impossible to prove a negative.
Your question is an invalid question. You cannot ask someone to prove that something does not exist. The onus of proof lies on the one who makes the claim, not on the one who listens.
If I'm understanding your question correctly, you want people to prove that freedom is real or you are asking "what is freedom?"
This kind of question lies more in the field of politics.
"What is the basic, the essential, the crucial principle that differentiates freedom from slavery? It is the principle of voluntary action versus physical coercion or compulsion."
"Freedom, in a political context, has only one meaning: the absence of physical coercion."
2007-07-22 03:27:54 · answer #1 · answered by Crazy M 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Nobody can prove to you anything. What they can do for you is to give you access to the kind of information that will allow you to make up your own mind.
One bit of information that you might consider is that Marx thought that freedom did not exist. His popularity has diminished considerably.
What I believe is quite simple. The future does not exist. We have only our imagination that is mutable. When we decide to act, it is cast in stone never to be changed. We can not change the past. We can not sense the future. Our actions are nothing less than creation itself.
(Being = Creation). We must have the freedom to create as our imagination dictates.
2007-07-22 11:34:58 · answer #2 · answered by everymansmedium 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The body is entangled with nature, so neither are free.
Freedom is a concept of the mind, but that doesn't make it less real. The mind is more real than people care to imagine.
2007-07-22 12:16:16 · answer #3 · answered by Julian 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, I cannot. Freedom is a real, physical thing. Because of this, I cannot prove it is only of your mind.
2007-07-22 10:52:15 · answer #4 · answered by naniannie 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it is definitely a mentality. look at this analogy: we are the artists given only certain colors on the palette of life in which we may use to paint our masterpiece. we are even given a certain size canvas and alotted time to paint and create our work. conisdering that we are bound and limited by all of these circumstances the only freedom we have is the freedom to choose what is already given to us. free will and freedom within reality are paradoxical and ironic.
2007-07-22 10:49:54 · answer #5 · answered by hobbitgonewild 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Every person on this planet has rules to follow as a child.
Every person on this planet has local or community rules to follow.
Every person on this planet has laws to follow.
Every religious person has rules and laws of their religion.
Even in war, there are still rules to follow such as "rules of engagement".
Anyone who claims to be a free is experincing a distortion of reality and deceiving themselves.
Even feral children who are raised without human interaction follow the rules and laws of nature and species, else they be punished or consequenced in some way.
You have no freedom. None of us do.
Each of us are 'prisoner's' to the rules of nature. Physical laws keep us bound to this planet -- such as gravity and centrifugal force.
I challenge anyone who believes that they are free.
2007-07-22 11:49:47 · answer #6 · answered by guru 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you are wrongly imprisoned. And stripped naked. What have you got left? Your "Freedom of Thought".
2007-07-22 12:20:00 · answer #7 · answered by phil8656 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't care whether I am free or not, either way is the same to me.
2007-07-22 12:56:48 · answer #8 · answered by driving_blindly 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋