How much of our lives, existence and mental state are we responsible for? Sartre says that all of our emotions and every aspect of our lives are made by choice. This means there are no outside forces. As a sociology major I cannot accept this. Everything we do is sculpted by our surroundings. Even the most personal decisions can be made on a personal level but overall some aspects of society can deeply decide whether or not you go through with a choice such as suicide. As for choosing our mental state, things can make us sad without our permission. People can make us mad without us wanting to be mad. Then in terms of our lives, we can choose what we want to do with our lives, this is always a limited choice however due to social stratification, status and various labels and discrimination's our culture puts on different people. Then once we get over those hurdles, no one will choose to be poor. No one wants to choose to be poor no one wants to live paycheck to paycheck. So to say that we are in control of our lives and choose to do everything and everything that we feel is a large fallacy. Everyone starts with a high goal but sometimes without any fault of their own they are pushed back and forced to settle on a less than ideal life that they never wanted.
"Only a Sith deals in absolutes" -Obi-Wan Kenobi
ReplyDeleteI'm not calling you a Sith, I only used that quote because it's interesting and applies here. I would be cautious with absolutes. Remember that few things are absolutely black and white. As such, you ought not make such a sweeping generalization regarding human desires.
You said that no one wants to choose to be poor, and that no one wants to live paycheck to paycheck, and that everyone starts with a high goal. However, I think that, with a world population of over 7 billion people, you could find at least person who chose to be poor, at least one person who voluntarily lives paycheck to paycheck, and at least one person who started with a low goal or no goal at all.
It is likely the case that the majority of people do not choose poverty, or to live paycheck to paycheck - I am not sure about the high goals - so it would be fair to say that few people choose to do these things.