Book Title:
A Beginner's Guide to Philosophy
Authors:
Dominique Janicaud
When you were younger, did you think that freedom was all about reducing restrictions till a point of non-existence? To do what you felt like doing, without objections from your parents, your God, your tutors, your conservative old grandmother and her mother…
Freedom of action seems like a teenage concept compared to the adult version, also known as financial freedom. We slog all our lives for bigger cars and houses, upgrading our wives and upsizing our kids. We pray to God to bestow upon us the riches to last us a lifetime, and many lifetimes to come.
While searching for freedom without questioning it enough to find a solution or lead, we complain about practicalities in life, boast about our awesome life experiences and up sell the philosophical reflections that came along in the package.
We might all be too engrossed in the rat race to life’s “successes” than to bother about philosophical questions to the meaning of life, freedom, beauty and more. After all, if Bill Gates didn’t bother about philosophy, then why should I? Bill Gates can spend his free time counting his money, can I? I probably take a few seconds to finish counting, so I’m better off drowning myself in ideas.
Freedom of action seems much more meaningful when it is about clear sightedness of choices available and their respective consequences. It could be choosing death when you are 100% sure there is a Christian God, when you happened to not be a Christian and you wish to be condemned to Hell with all the interesting people in there.