Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- .See also: Politics, justice equality liberty. --- 11/15/2001
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- .This section is about freedom or liberty. Topics include: ( ) Determinism. ( ) Freedom. ( ) Freewill. ( ) Limits. ( ) Power. --- 1/24/2006
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- (1) Degree a person is cognizant or ignorant that their actions are good or bad and why. (2) Degree a person is free to act, or forced to act, by internal (psychological) or external (physical) forces. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- (1) Determinism. Too many people think, when event A happens instead of event B, that "everything happens for a reason", meaning a divine reason, not an earthly cause. These people are on the wrong track. They are trying to comfort themselves, at the expense of truth. Did the Holocaust happen for a reason? Did their god want the Holocaust to occur? Should we keep having murders? This line of reasoning is also an attempt to avoid responsibility. If things happened for a reason, then these people feel less responsible for fighting injustice. This line of reasoning is also a way to avoid the big question marks in life. Instead of saying "I do not know, and I will never know, if event A would have been better than event B.", they say, "There must have been a reason". This is religious thinking. "All things happen for a reason. All things happen for the best. Whatever will be will be. It is all gods will." These are all psychologically pathological attitudes. It is sub-optimal. They are not talking about natural causes, or individual decisions. They are talking about some sort of end that everything is heading towards, and a supernatural guide who is leading us there. Do they really believe the Holocaust had to happen? Do they really believe the Holocaust should have happened? People who believe that the Holocaust should have happened are ill. --- 01/03/1994
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- (1) Freedom as a metaphysical condition: your metaphysical limits. (2) Freedom as an ethical condition. Fighting for freedom. Creating techniques to expand your limits. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- (1) Freedom in nature (metaphysics). (2) Freedom in society (ethics). --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- (1) Freedom is an easy sell. Freedom is easy to understand. Freedom is easy to desire. To give freedom to others one just has to say, "Yes, go right ahead". (2) Equality is as important as freedom. The importance of equality is more difficult to see if you are not a minority. The importance of equality if more difficult for the privileged to see. To give equality one has to say, "Now, wait a second." Equality involves saying, "No." Some people don't like to hear the word "No." --- 11/13/2005
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- (1) Self: being repressed means you are not free. Repression involves unconscious or conscious reins on your freedom. (2) Others: societal limits on freedom. (3) Nature: natural limits on your freedom. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- (1) The nomad. Few material things, but many experiences, much thought, and much freedom? (2) The materialistic. Many material things, but few experiences, little thought, and little freedom. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Dependency as slavery. (1) Becoming dependent on, or slave to, technology is bad? (2) Becoming dependent on a person is bad? (3) Becoming dependent on a drug is bad. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Ethics in easy times vs. tough times. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Force vs. free choice. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Forces (totally, partially) beyond our control. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Freedom = number of decisions, types of decisions, and importance of the decisions you can make. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Freedom = creation of options or alternatives. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Freedom = power to choose. Sovereignty. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Freedom and rebellion. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Freedom from self, from society, and from natural world. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Freedom in a situation: types, and amounts or degrees. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Freedom of mind. Degree inclined to think about something (obsession). Degree inhibited to think about something (repression). --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Freedom of thought, word, and action. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Freedom to grow. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Freedom to think. Amount of time you have available to think. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Freedom vs. control. Internal control: physical, psychology. (2) External control: natural, social. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Freedom vs. needs and wants like security, conformity, and like/lust. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Freedom yields choice among alternatives, and thus freedom yields responsibility. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Freedom: now vs. future. Actual vs. potential. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Freedom. What types and degrees of freedom do I have, or can I get? (1) Freedom of thought: having an open mind. (2) Freedom of speech: having a big mouth. (3) Freedom of action: having a healthy body. (4) Political freedom. (5) Economic freedom. (6) Spatial and temporal freedom. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Freedom. You are not really free unless you are aware that you are free and that you have choices. You have to know what all your choices are. And you have to know the outcomes for actions chosen. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Freewill and freedom. (1) Metaphysics of freewill. (A) Arguments based on causation. (B) Arguments based on psychology. Drives. Addiction. Compulsion. (2) Ethics of freedom. Person toward person. Rights. Slavery. --- 8/6/1998
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Freewill. (1) If you believe in cause and effect, then how can you believe in human choice and freewill? (2)(A) Obsessive compulsives and addicts are not 100% free. (B) Human drives make us not 100% percent free. (3) No one is 100% free, but in courts of law we act as if people are. No one is 100% un-free either. --- 8/5/1998
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Freewill. To those who say humans do not have freewill, and that they inevitably choose what they think is best. I say, if a person can say "I will flip a coin to make this decision, and act which ever way the coin lands.", then in my book we have freewill. --- 9/23/1998
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Gaining freedom is the first big step. Using freedom is the second big step. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- How free are we? How free can we be? How free should we be? --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- How free we are depends on limits imposed by environment and society (others). --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- How free you are depends on (1) Number of choices you have, and your knowledge of choices and their outcomes. You should be informed. (2) Detachedness of desire. Not biased to any choice. You should be disinterested. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- How much should we curb our freedom (of thought, word, and action)? --- 12/30/1995
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Imagination and mental freedom. Freedom from self: imagination. Freedom from time and space: imagination. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- In addition to limits that prevent us from acting, there are also forces or pressures that make us act. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Internal (bio-chemical) freedom, and external freedom. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Is anyone totally in control? Is anyone totally out of control? --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Limit questions. What are the limits? Are there any limits? Pushing the envelope. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Limits depend on your natural talents, your potential, your abilities, and how you develop it. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Limits exist. (1) Limits of self: mind and body. (2) Limits of what you will take from who, in what situation, and why. (3) Limits of the natural world. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Limits of the possible. (1) Possible ever. (2) Possible now. (3) Possible in future, after x course of action. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Limits of what is. Limits of what can change, and the limits of what can't change. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Limits, controls: natural, social, and self imposed. How much, and in what areas? --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Limits. Are their limits? Know your limits. Push your limits: grow. Don't push them too far because injury, damage, pain, and permanent loss of ability can result. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Limits. Types of limits: (1) Self abilities (current and potential). Physical: ability, energy. Psychological: ability, energy, age. (2) Self imposed ethical limits. What you will and will not allow self to do. (3) Societal limits: laws, norms. (4) Natural limits: time, space. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Limits. Types of limits. Changeable and permanent limits. Personal limits, current world limits, all time limits. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Limits. What is possible vs. what is impossible. Now vs. in the future. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Loss of control = loss of power = loss of freedom. Types of control: control over self, control over others, and control over your environment. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Loss of privacy = loss of freedom. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Loss of rights = loss of freedom. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Metaphysical freedom (natural limits) vs. ethical freedom (right and wrong). Psychological freedom (drives, habits) vs. sociological freedom (social norms and taboos). --- 9/28/1998
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Most free = most happy. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Power = control in general. Freedom = the control you have over self, your person and your actions. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Power = freedom. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Power vs. impotence. Freedom vs. slavery. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Privacy. (See: Technology, privacy -> Ethics and privacy). --- 12/30/2003
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Real freedom is when it does not matter which choice you pick. For example, choosing a blue jawbreaker vs. a green one. That is, matters of taste only. In any ethical situation we have no freedom, because we "ought" or "should" do the good thing. "Do the right thing", they say. In an ethical situation it does matter which choice we pick. So we are not free. If the world was not an ethical situation, then we would be free. But on this earth there is precious little freedom. There is freedom only in matters of taste. --- 04/10/1997
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Safe slavery vs. dangerous freedom. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Servitude to others is bullshit. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Some say if we are only 1% free then we are free. Some say if we are not 100% free then we are not free. --- 8/6/1998
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Survivalist. I wanted to be fully independent, at the lowest technological level. Freedom addict. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- The goal of mankind is to develop as much freedom as possible, for individuals and society. To do this through technology, knowledge, etc. With freedom comes responsibility (to self, others, and nature). The more freedom, the more responsibility. Thus the purpose of life is to become as responsible as possible, but not to take on more responsibility than we can handle. --- 12/30/1995
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- The truth will set you free? Knowledge is power. Power is freedom? --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- There is no freedom, only slavery by degree. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Three types of freedom. (1) Economic freedom: freedom from want. (2) Political freedom: freedom to act. (3) Technological freedom: know how. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Three views of freedom. (1) Wildness as freedom: unslaved, uncivilized, wilderness. (2) Decadence as freedom: the beats. (3) Rebellion as freedom: punks. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- To be "not free" is to be a slave or prisoner. All men are both. To "become free" is to be emancipated or liberated. --- 11/27/1993
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- To what degree are we are slaves to the environment we spent ages 1 to 3 in (Freudianism)? To what degree are we slaves to the environment we were in until we were able to think and act for ourselves (teenage)? --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Two types of denial of freedom. (1) Legally free but mentally in chains. I.e., learned helplessness. (2) Legally free but denied social opportunities. I.e., discrimination. --- 4/28/2001
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Two types of freedom: mental freedom and physical freedom. (1) Sitting in a jail cell, your physical freedom is near zero, but your mental freedom is near 100 because you can think about anything you like. (2) Working a busy job that involves travel, your physical freedom is near 100 because you can drive anywhere, but your mental freedom is near zero if you have to think only about the job all day long. --- 7/31/2006
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Two types of freedom. (1) Peace and happiness is based on cooperation and inter-dependence vs. (2) being totally self-sufficient and independent is best. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- Types of freedom. (1) Legal freedom: no laws against performing an action. (2) Ethical freedom: no ethical restraints on performing an action. --- 1/14/1999
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- We are slaves to: (1) History, the past, what we have done, and what we have experienced. (2) Our beliefs, by degree. (3) Truth. (4) Addictions. (4) Ethics. (5) Environment. (6) Age. (7) Our perceptions. (8) Our values, and goals. (9) Our actions. Can't do two things at once. (10) Space and time. Can't be in two places at same time. (11) Ignorance. (12) Biology, our bodies, our minds. (13) Our abilities. (14) Our desires, drives, emotions, and perceptions. (15) Society. The law. (16) Reality. Nature. (17) The right thing, good, truth. (18) Economics, work, money, food, clothing, shelter. (19) Life and death. (20) (see limits) --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- We have the powers and abilities to think, say, and do. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- What things are enslaving me? Why? How much? How can I get out of them? --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- What to do with freedom? --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, freedom. --- When society becomes more complex, people become more specialized and more dependent. --- 12/30/1992