Paper Topic:

sociology 401 Social Theory

Freedom

A Comparison between Durkheim and Freud

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Freedom means different things to different people . Freedom can encompass the philosophical idea of being free but it can also encompass the physical act of being free to pursue one 's desires . In other words one can feel free from worry , fear or debt and /or realize their freedom to choose their own life path . The philosophical approach to freedom has been widely addressed by many experts in the field . The idea of freedom is closely associated with the

idea of free will . A human 's ability to have free will determines how much inner freedom each person has while governmental or other authoritarian control dictates how much outer freedom each person has . The opinions of Emile Durkheim and Sigmund Freud are analyzed as they relate to freedom . Each theorist offers different insight into human freedom and these will be compared and contrasted to form a comprehensive understanding of freedom . Finally , a personal opinion will be offered which makes a determination about which theorist is the most persuasive

Emile Durkheim was primarily concerned with social phenomena and how this affected human beings . He believed that human behavior was dependent upon the social environment one was a part of . Therefore , the ability to submit to that environment was the most important determinant of freedom . For man freedom consists in deliverance from blind unthinking physical forces . The individual submits to society and this submission is the condition of this liberation (Durkheim...

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