Freedom - A Contradiction?
My freedom is important to me. I say this knowing that freedom is, in itself , an illusion.
At first sight there might seem to be a contradiction, but, I feel, there is none. The conflict lies in the first sentence which can, at worst, be called vague. It only talks of freedom but does not talk about the level of abstraction at which this freedom is defined. The second statement just does the opposite by bringing in the idea of different levels freedom. Since freedom itself is an abstract idea, when one calls it an illusion, one is invariably introducing a lot of level`s` of abstraction. So, redefining freedom for both the sentences should obviate the contradiction that seemed to exist initially.
When I say my freedom is important to me, I talk about freedom from that what I perceive as threats to my “freedom” at that moment in time and space in my life. This freedom and its inhibitor’s definition are strongly influenced by not only my perception of the world and also the price my sub-conscious mind is willing to pay for that freedom. If the price is perceived, by my mind, to be too high, more often than not, it will not been seen as shackle by my conscious mind. But once it is identified as a chain by my conscious mind, my ego would not rest till at some level I break the chain or at least convince my self that I have broken it. This is why it is important to me and how I fructify this importance
In the second sentence, freedom is to be taken in its most absolute terms that you can imagine for it. But the image that you conjure up will still be limited by the very facets that make you human. So to imagine it as an un-imaginable thing is the best way to imagine it, much like the concept of infinity. And it is this concept that’s an illusion.
Contradiction Solved?
And to round it off on a sober note, I asked one of my friends after *making* him read this give me his definition of freedom. He retorted “Your freedom is to ask me that question, mine, to choose not to answer and, ours, to understand each other on this”
