Freedom as I understand from the way the text explains it is the ability to be able to intake things. Which to me relates to subjectivity. The ability to enjoy is one example the text gives with the definition, but what we all enjoy is different, and the way we enjoy things is also different. The idea of free will is also a big focus of this chapter, and is a topic that really intrigues me.
The first quote I would like to speak about is, "an education that focuses on the humanities, or the liberal arts... will prepare individuals to be thoughtful citizens with the ability to analyze arguments critically, communicate their own positions effectively, and find paths to compromise and agreement" (page 428). This is really interesting because I think it is slightly unrealistic but also very important. Education is not free and not always easily accessible to everyone. But being educated is crucial in being able to communicate properly. Being able to communicate properly is crucial to getting yourself where you need to be in life. So in a sense it is not fair, but with that, nothing ever is truly fair.
Going off of that, the next quote I would like to speak about is, "we cant decide whether to speed or obey the limit if we don't have a car" (page 430). So choices are free, but those free choices still depend on something else that may or may not be beyond our control. This topic is sort of hard to understand since the whole idea is that free choices are not really as free as we think. I personally like to think that I do make my choices freely, but I also do understand that there is always an underlying factor behind why I made the choice I did. Whether that be the way I was raised, how educated I am, or anything of that sort.
The last quote I would like to highlight is, "we are not what we are but rather what we do" (page 435). It essentially explains that everything we do is due to something else that has happened to us in the past, whether we realize it or not. This idea makes a lot of sense to me and sort of goes with the theory that everything happens for a reason, which is a saying I like to live by. Whether we know why things happen or not there is a reason, whether in our beyond our control.
Janaro, R. P., & Altshuler, T. C. (2017). The Art of Being Human: The humanities as a technique for living (11th ed.). Pearson.
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