DE GUZMAN, Eulogio Clarence Martin IV L.

2019-10393
The Ultimate Meaning of Freedom
When I was in the 10th Grade, I used to believe in Friedrich Nietzsche. He proclaimed

that people had the will to power, and that people themselves can overcome anything that comes

their way. “Overmen” was the term he used; I believe. There is always something comforting

about hearing these sorts of things. It is always nice to hear that we have power and that we are

in control of everything around us. But believing in Nietzsche would mean that I, or everyone,

would be free to choose and be free to dictate life. I didn’t feel free. I didn’t feel in control, and

for some unexplainable reason, I didn’t want to be. Freedom didn’t really seem all that real to

me, but maybe it’s because I do not know what freedom is.

People put a large value on freedom, but most of us don’t really know what it means to

be free. A lyric from the song Desperado by The Eagles defines freedom as “just some people

talking.” I have heard the song a multiple number of times and somehow, my interpretation

changes every single time. Does this mean that freedom is only obtained by those who fight for

it? Or for those who know what freedom is? Maybe it’s for those who achieve happiness? Or

maybe not. Maybe this just means that freedom cannot be attained by all.

Victor Frankl defined freedom in a different way. Freedom, for Frankl, is being able to

think freely and believe in whatever you want to believe in. If one thinks about it, this is a type of

freedom not all people can attain. Even Frankl himself had to go through a whole lot to realize

this for himself. Thinking about his concept made me realize how he and Nietzsche are somehow

the same. Both of them believe that man has the ability to create his own reality.

Reading Frankl’s book made me question a lot about how I was to create my own reality.

I actually saw myself in some parts of the book. I, for one, believe that man is a selfish animal, a
primitive being, that, when in harm, will always do anything for his/her own survival. In the

book, we saw how low people would get to survive, and how the hostile environment made them

no greater than pigs in a pen. In simpler words, I think that man is, by nature, selfish. I was

proven wrong. Even in adverse situations, Frankl and party still looked out for each other, caring

for one another’s well-being. This made me think of how I myself look after my friends in the

simplest of ways. I then realized that I do value comradery and friendship very much. We care

because we are human, and it is a fact that we are more than pigs in a pen. But caring doesn’t

really mean we are free.

I had once dreamt of being devoid of the ability to feel. This was a result of me hurting

and suffering emotionally at one point in my life. I thought to myself, if I do not feel, then

reaching my goals would be a whole lot easier. I was then again, wrong. Frankl, at one point, did

become apathetic, but being human makes us feel all these emotions even if we deny ourselves

to show them. Feeling makes us human, but it certainly does not mean we are free.

All throughout the book, Frankl emphasizes that the pursuit of meaning and purpose

would deem our survival. But in a world that is far different from his, does this hold true. We

now live in an era where people can do what they want, and yet, we end up being in an era where

you are just as likely to kill yourself than to be killed. This is another reason why I say that we

are not free. A lot of people move around places to follow their passion and find meaning in their

lives, but this constant cycle does not guarantee that a person would feel free. Maybe, to some

people, this endless cycle of searching for meaning and purpose be the reason why they are not

free.

Even after giving it some time, I still do not think that Frankl’s definition of freedom is

correct, but then again, I also do not think that he was trying to make us believe that it is.
Reading the book did not make me believe in Frankl’s thoughts on freedom, but rather, it made

me develop a meaning of freedom on my own, which, for me, might be the reason why Frankl

indeed wrote the book, to give us the freedom to think.

Freedom for me isn’t about meaning nor purpose, but rather, the ability to create or make

your own. With this meaning, I think, we are emancipated from the shackles of people saying

that we are not free, that we are slaves to a system or to a cycle, because, in the end, life itself is

a blessing. Life itself is freedom. We all have our own purposes and meanings, but this doesn’t

make us freer than the other person. People might say that this definition of freedom might be

unfair to those who are in shackles and are suffering, but even Frankl, in the cold horrors of the

concentration camp, found freedom.

In the end, given any definition of freedom, The Eagles are still right. We would never

achieve freedom for all. The world isn’t as simple as thoughts and values. Life is much more

complicated than that. In the future, I hope that we would live in a world where we could all be

free, in our own ways.