Freedom as a Conscious Choice: Exploring Hannah Arendt's Perspective on Liberty and Responsibility

Liberty is a choice as it does not necessarily mean choosing from the available possibilities illustrated in the Christian doctrine given by God. According to Hannah Arendt, Freedom is having the ability to start up something fresh that others unexpectedly; each individual is entitled to freedom by the benefit of being brought to life. I agree that freedom is a choice, where all the choices are boundless, and they have different consequences consciously or unconsciously with responsibilities.

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Hannah Arendt states that the actions we do in the realization of our freedom are always rooted in nature. Once one is born, there is a representation of a new beginning, and the actions that we undertake in our daily routine give room to try a new thing. Action is a crucial element in the realization of freedom; when life begins, it has the total capacity to do the unexpected as well as perform miracles. From Arendt, each man is unique; hence something unique is always expected from him. Revolution events are the only attempts that make freedom appear without choices since they are founded and do not have beginnings (Arendt, 2019). Stepping out of their comfort zones, people had to create a memory of their actions that would bring about public freedom. Engaging in various activities makes individuals delight in them as they tend to acquire a feeling of public freedom by discovering unexpected delights, thus earning distinction among others. Arendt gives illustrations of how the revolution in America, Russia, France, and the creation of the Soviet Union was brought about by popular uprisings that took the form of constitutional liberty as a worldly reality but not as a choice.

Yes, freedom is a choice whereby the choices I make are always limitless, and they have consequences. At times, I am confronted by making choices that reduce my freedom since choosing otherwise would create violence and negatively impact my life. For one to be free, they have to take full responsibility for their choices of action, whether they are desirable or not. The responsibility to give up my freedom for the choices I make for one reason or another is also a choice of freedom. For instance, submission is a way of giving up my freedom for a greater purpose by playing the victim, such as the revolutionist in the war (Ivanova, 2018). Freedom comes with our daily choices, either consciously or unconsciously, as one may choose to stay in an intolerable relationship rather than be alone in the forest. At times we are confronted by reducing our freedom since we have to avoid risk and the obligation that comes along with having the freedom. The freedom of not choosing is also a choice since one may opt to surrender. Since freedom is a choice, it does not necessarily mean that boundaries and limitations should be broken or abolished without consequences.

References

Arendt, H. (2019, January 11). Hannah Arendt (Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/arendt/

Ivanova, E. (2018, February 12). A framework for thinking about freedom, choice, and responsibility. Medium. https://medium.com/@euvieivanova/a-framework-for-thinking-about-freedom-choice-and-responsibility-2b2c0ce1cd8a