Essays on Freedom
The nature of freedom entails the ability to act or change based on one’s own terms. It is a concept that refers to being independent and their lack of restraint from others. Freedom develops the idea that human beings are able to make their own life choices and create their own life path. This perspective has caused much debate and controversy amongst different philosophers. In Epistemic Injustice: Power and the Ethics of Knowing, Miranda Fricker introduces the concept of epistemic injustice and develops this term through the ideas of testimonial and hermeneutical injustice. Contrarily, in The Myth of Sisyphus, Albert Camus examines the concept of freedom in relation to the absurd. Fricker and Camus, in their works, develop their understanding of the issue of freedom in different ways.
Through their works, the philosophers Fricker and Camus, develop their views on the issue of freedom. In Epistemic Injustice: Power and the Ethics of Knowing, Fricker defines the injustices that diminish the freedom of an individual. Fricker believes that the prejudices and judgments instilled in the minds of the listener “cause him to miss out on a piece of knowledge” (Fricker 17). With this, the credibility of the speaker is inaccurately assessed and judged by other individuals. The idea of epistemic injustice, or the diminishment of one’s knowledge, is shown to block an individual’s freedom. Through these prejudices, individuals begin to make choices based on the views and interpretations of varying concepts defined by the overall society. On the other hand, in The Myth of Sisyphus, Albert Camus describes the absurdity of the world and how this causes individuals to obtain false freedom. By believing that everyone has a purpose in life, individuals are stuck in the cycle of trying to attain a goal they can never accomplish. Although individuals believe that they have to freedom to make their life choices and direct their lives towards a certain goal, this concept is false due to the fact that an individual’s existence is meaningless.
Therefore, Camus believes that the only way to obtain freedom is to recognize the absurdities of the world and to experience life as it is without any preconceptions or prejudices. Through this, freedom is experiencing the present, without the misconception of a future goal or purpose in life. As seen in both of these works, Fricker and Camus have extremely differing views on the concept of freedom. While Fricker believes that one’s freedom is restricted by prejudices and judgments, Camus believes that freedom is restricted by the false hope of meaning in life. Although these ideas differ greatly, these philosophers both seem to agree with the idea that a society's preconceptions limit an individual’s capability to understand and acknowledge what their freedom is.
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