TOPIC: ISSUE136 - "The absence of choice is a circumstance that is very, very rare."
WORDS: 199 TIME: 上午 12:23:09 DATE: 2007-8-3
Is the choiceless situation very rare, as the speaker maitains? In my view, I agree that this assertion is on the correct philosophical side of this issue, by pointing out the abandant choices all of us are faced with. Meanwhile, we should also keep in mind the limitation of every choice, to take the advantage of these choices to benefit us both on personal and on societal level.
To begin with, there are two reasons why I tend to support this contention. First, it accords with our everyday experience and the common sense as human beings. Actually, we are making choice all the time; choice acts like the air surrounding us that permeate every espect of our lives. The secondly reason is, along with the progress in science and technology, as well as the advance in liberty and democracy, the morden society gives us even more choices. Consider, women, a group which are often considered as facing so many limitations in some historical epoches, are provided more freedom to choice life pattern, to seek a sound career, and to get more power in politics. Obviously, the same kind of instances are defying enumeration, showing us the fact that nowhere than in the modern society, human are provided unpresendent room of choice.
To the contrary, if one claims that sometimes there are no room for us to make choice, it seems to advocate our destiny is doomed, this is far from the truth. Although we does not chose our birth, we can choce how we will live; we do not chose when we will die, in most circustance, we can chose to die peacefully or regretfully. Actully, it is by chosing what to do, and what not to do,so we shapen our own lives. Thus, then variety of lives of different people also accounts with the fact that we are always faced choices.
But in the same time, we should notice that there are definite limitations in our indefinite existing of choices. Obviously, the first limitation of choice is the objective circumstance, such as the historical epoch, the capability, financial condition, physical or mental health, etc. And another limitation which sometimes be ignored is, we should be responsible for the consequence of our choice. In short, noticing the limitation can encourage us the create more freedom of choice, as well as to deal with the present room of choice.
In sum, I agree with the speaker's assertion that in almost all cases, merely except those extrem examples like person in vegetable state, we do not lack choice. At the same time, noticing the limitation of every choice might enable us to utilize it better in shaping our own life. 作者: ChemiAndy 时间: 2007-8-8 20:32:11