A freedom greater than freedom Essay - 2455 Words

It is a common misconception that those in power necessarily have more liberty than their less powerful counterparts. Intuitively, a country’s king has the freedom to act in more ways than the peasant, the rich have more options than the poor, the slave owner rules while the slave is ruled, and a government official often treads above the laws they pen for the people. However, there is a hidden assumption in this way of thought— that liberty is proportional to quality of life. From a pragmatic point of view, most would choose the life of the king over the life of the slave, the rich over the poor, the slave owners over the slaves, or the above the law status to the law abiding one, simply because the quality of life of one is so much†¦show more content†¦We begin with Hawthorne’s Puritan soap opera and one of its principal characters, certainly one of the most pitiful men in American literature, Mr. Arthur Dimmesdale (this is not to suggest that he is cr uel, sinful or wicked, merely that one can at most feel pity for the way he supports a way of life that crushes him). Within the limits of Boston in the mid-1640’s Dimmesdale, being a minister, is quite revered. His faith is envied, his audiences awestruck and his role as a leader in the community assured. If we define power to be influence over another, then Dimmesdale holds great power in both his words and actions. However, compared with others in his community, did he have more freedom? I mean by asking the question concluding the preceding paragraph to raise another question. Are freedoms only what one is allowed to do in the public arena? Or the private arena? Or in both? Certainly, our ability to speak out against a public official is one of many easily identifiable freedoms, but there are other freedoms that go mostly undetected. For example, it is by convention that one does not swear during a formal speech to an audience. Not only do almost all public speakers abid e by this convention, but most would not even think about breaking it. They are choosing not to swear, undoubtedly, but choosing to swear isShow MoreRelated The Ontological Argument Essay1446 Words   |  6 Pages The Ontological Argument nbsp; The Ontological Argument, put forth by Saint Anselm in his Proslogium, attempts to prove the existence of God simply by the fact that we have a particular concept of God - that God is that than which nothing greater can be conceived. 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