Freedom as we know it

I think there are two ways to categorize what we like to call freedom. The more immature, in my belief, is to consider freedom the ability to do what you want to do. Let's first consider the obvious restriction that our freedom should not infringe on the freedom of others (no murder, stealing, etc). That creates a set of actions that we could refer to as pleasure seeking activity. Now at first glance this term may seem to simply be hedonism but in reality it extends deeper into any self-fulling pleasure action, even emotional or intellectual ones. Now this type of freedom sets us up to satisfy our desire for pleasure. But the shortcoming of this conceptualization of freedom lies in the fact that we, humans, are prone to overindulgence. Now most people don't think of themselves as gluttons but I would argue that we all are. The reason is because we all have a craving for relationships, love if you will, but we will engage in activities that inhibit our ability to relate with others. For example, one who loves sports could become so engaged in his sport that he neglects the social relationships that govern his life. Another example could be the individual who listens to his iPOD to such an extent that he shuts out social cnversation. Now the one argument I have placed forward is based simply on the premise that we all desire social relationships. Some might argue that we desire only limited social engagement, therefore, I will propose my more solid argument now that I have directed your attention.

Take for example the hedonistic man. Now the hedonistic man would want to fulfill all his physical desires like sex, food, and alcohol. Now everyone would agree that overindulgence in these things is dangerous to that person's health. But I would argue that those things are not only bad but enslaving. Some call it addicting but, however you put it, what happens is that the person simply can not imagine living without doing such things. So what was their freedom, doing what they want to do, turned into their slavery because of their humanness. Now true hedonism is quite repulsive to most but lesser forms of it, like binge drinking, sexual promiscuity, drug addiction, etc., are still just as enslaving.

But from the beginning I set out to describe the less common view of freedom: the ability to do what you know you should do. THE ABILITY TO DO WHAT YOU KNOW YOU SHOULD DO. I will let it sink in for a minute because its contrary to everything we seem to believe freedom is about. When a teenager is grounded they appeal to freedom - that they deserve to be allowed to do as they please without regulation. But I say that appeal is unjustified because in reality we are aware of a code of conduct that we know we should obey. Now some believe in following rules or religion. That is not what I'm trying to argue for because rules and religion can be twisted so that it is merely an attempt to find self-fulfilling pleasure from acceptance by others. What I'm trying to argue for is a self-chosen desire to obey certain morals and standards in order to serve others. Why should one choose this type of freedom over pleasure seeking freedom? Because although this seems to put more restrictions on what you can do, it actually frees you up to do what you truly want to do - develop relationships. The reason pleasure seeking is wrong is because it is inherently self-seeking and therefore contrary to human's personal desire for relationship, but it is addicting because it is pleasurable. So it meets our desire for pleasure but misses our need of relationship. But doing what we should do necessitates placing an importance on others (because what we should do always relates to others) and therefore would meet our need for relationship. It would also be satisfying and therefore pleasurable. Although it may not be as pleasurable as hedonistic activity, it would not be met with confusion like the loss of relationship brings about. In conclusion, freedom should be bound by doing what is right because it would meet our needs and satisfy our wants.

Comment what your opinions about this are. I'm probably gonna add some more to simplify and clarify later.