Freedom versus Determinism In Class Essay
The person portrayed in The Scream clearly is in distress, they looked extremely surprised and scared. This is because they have just realized that they have been living in-authentically, that is, they have set certain parameters to live by that has ultimately affected, and taken away , their freedom. This debate about whether or not we have freedom in the decisions that we make is one that Sartre and Freud both are strongly opinionated about. Freud, being a soft determinist, claims that much of what we do, especially the things that define our lives, is determined. Sartre on the other hand says that we have so much freedom that it scares us and the person in the scream is in anguish due to how
If our essence existed before we did, then we were made to fulfill a specific purpose, and this is not true, because there was no God to conceive this essence before we existed. However, this argument does not explain for example a person’s DNA. DNA is a part of which we are, and influences who we are long before we are able to make our own decisions. Also, there are cases in which it is physically impossible to determine our own essence such as the Jews in the Holocaust whose freedom was removed far beforehand. Additionally, it can be argued that when we make decisions we define ourselves, but something has to make these decisions. In a cyclical Nature, our character defines our decisions as equally as our decisions define our character. But Ultimately, I believe that the traits that make up our character can defy what theoretically should be determined based on our DNA or where we come from. I believe in the modern view of defining our own lives and making our own decisions based off of whatever situation we find ourselves in, and that is what defines our self. These decisions, Sartre argues, give us ultimate freedom however; the sudden lack of boundaries gives us more freedom than we can handle, or desire. This is called “Monstrous Freedom.” For example, a man walking on a tall bridge looks over the edge and is suddenly