Exploring the Concept of Positive Freedom - Research Paper Example

Exploring the Concept of Positive Freedom Introduction The most powerful contemporary explanation of freedom in a psychological point of view is presented by Erich Fromm and the similarity between the idealist argument and his notion of ‘positive freedom’ is interestingly direct, in view of the dissimilarities in overall perspective: “Positive freedom consists in the spontaneous activity of the total, integrated personality” (Fromm 257). In essence, “Positive freedom… is identical with the full realization of the individual’s potentialities, together with his ability to live actively and spontaneously” (Fromm 257-8). The primary purpose of Fromm is to demonstrate the reason ‘freedom’ within the utilitarian perspective—or the nonexistence of external controls—is psychologically self-destructive except if the cultural and social environment provides sustenance to the development of ‘positive freedom’. This essay discusses Fromm’s explanation of positive freedom and analyzes the sort of freedom expressed by the activity of the consumer in the shopping mall and in the making and viewing of pornography. It is the contention of this essay that there is high positive freedom in mall shopping whereas low positive freedom in the making and viewing of pornography. The difference lies in the fact that consumers in the shopping mall are regulated by rules that are intended to elicit good behavior while in the making and viewing of pornography there is a lack of rules and the participants are granted the freedom to do what they please. Fromm’s Positive Freedom Fromm tried to prove that social freedom could turn into an affliction or a risk to the person, except if he is allowed to exercise even the least psychological freedom. Nevertheless, he in no way criticizes the importance of social freedom, and at this point he moves off completely from the idealist thought. Fromm sees in individuals a need to be ruled or managed, but he tends to see it as a temporary requirement, created by the influence of society and culture on the natural state of humanity (Fromm 251). Fromm argues that an individual should be liberated psychologically so as to the escape the break out of the psychological necessity to passively yield to the state. The belief of Fromm, and the belief of contemporary psychologists, is that individuals need society because human beings are ‘social’ and need the appreciation, sympathy, and company of others and some level of peace and order in their society (Fromm 251). However, the psychological desire to be ruled stems, Fromm believes, from unease brought about by isolation and alienation. He cautions that the growth of social freedom and individual in the contemporary period could heighten individuals’ need to be ruled, except if the person becomes skilled at avoiding a psychological seclusion from other people. People will make an attempt to free themselves from freedom if freedom requires weakening emotional and psychological bond to their fellow people and society. Fromm argues (Fromm 252): Because we have freed ourselves of the older overt forms of authority, we do not see that we have become the prey of a new kind of authority. We have become automatons who live under the illusion of being self-willing individuals. This illusion helps the individual to remain unaware of his insecurity, but this is all the help such an illusion can give. Basically the self of the individual is weakened, so that he feels powerless and extremely insecure. Per se, Fromm sees a dialectical aspect in the course of expanding individualism. While there is an increase in independence or ‘self-reliance’, there is attendant rise in feelings of isolation that results in anxiety. Fromm argues that when the person was in harmony with the natural world, s/he does not have to be anxious about it. Nevertheless, when a person becomes conscious of his/her strong qualities and obligation in that world, s/he is left with no choice but to be on his/her own in the presence of the tremendous outer force or authority that now threatens it. The dialectical aspect takes place so long as a person has greater freedom to grow as an individual, but a person also has greater freeedom from that world that previously provided the guarantee and safety that a decent human life needs (Fromm 254). It is such conflict between these negative and positive encounters of freedom that leads, according to Fromm, to the intolerable feelings of helplessness or subordination that push the individual to pursue ways to escape or be free. To push his argument further, he mentions in his book The Fear of Freedom (2001) the biblical story of the eviction of humanity from the Garden of Eden. In this paradise there was no freedom, and hence no reflecting on how they should behave, decide, or think. What was existent though was a full harmony with nature and hence a sense of security and order. In disobeying the rules of God, in making a willful decision, humanity brought in the origin of human freedom. But once evicted from paradise, humanity has to chance of going back. Every move in the path of increasing individualism has prospered in endangering the person with new and increasingly severe uncertainties. By giving up the ‘main bond’ that previously furnished the person with security in their natural environment, individual freedom is in reality encountered as an intolerable restraint. Fromm claims (From 262-3): [Freedom] then becomes identical with doubt, with a kind of life which lacks meaning and direction. Powerful tendencies arise to escape from this kind of freedom into submission or some kind of relationship to man and the world which promises relief from uncertainty, even if it deprives the individual of his freedom. The obsessive pursuit of security is viewed by Fromm to lead to the loss of freedom in favor of putting oneself under the authority of a powerful entity outside of the individual. This has definite political repercussions, specifically the eagerness to submit to existing powerful entities. Fromm claims that the ‘fear of freedom’ pushes people to express profound animosity; first is towards their own self, who they see as incompetent, and second is towards individuals who they think are more inadequate than them (Fromm 253). Therefore, negative freedom is the lack of restraints, hindrances, or rules. A person has negative freedom insofar as behavior and thoughts are accessible to him/her in such a negative manner. On the other hand, positive freedom is the likelihood of behaving, or the reality of behaving, in such a manner as to have power over one’s life and fulfill one’s core ambitions. Although negative freedom is normally associated with individual agents, positive freedom is at times associated with groups, or to people regarded mostly as part of specific groups. Going to the Mall and Making and Viewing of Pornography In order to fully understand Fromm’s differentiation of negative and positive freedom, one should look at it in actual terms—the making and viewing of pornography and the activity of the consumer in the shopping mall. This section tries to determine whether these activities are a form of negative or positive freedom. This analysis uses the articles Porn and the Industrialization of Sex by Gail Dines and The World in a Shopping Mall by Margaret Crawford. Gail Dines explains the process of desensitization that encourages porn users to become accustomed to sexual activities, yearn for evermore punishing, violent images to release their urges and become habituated to the women’s debasement. Dines describe this habituation process in the following manner (Dines xxii): Porn, like all other images, tells stories about the world, but these stories are one of the most intimate nature, as they are about sexuality and sexual relationships. When men turn to porn to experience sexual arousal and orgasm, the come away with a lot more than just an ejaculation because the stories seep into the very core of their sexual identity. The outcome is that, as males achieve sexual gratification through porn, these men are being trained to justify and separate themselves from the violence. Dines further describes that in pornland women’s bodies are mutilated. After such sexually violent acts these women willingly show how their vaginas and anuses have been torn apart. Dines said that “these women seem eager to have their orifices stretched to full capacity and sometimes beyond, and indeed, the more bizarre and degrading the act, the greater the supposed sexual arousal for her” (xxiii). Likewise, the men are unfeeling automatons that are only concerned with their full sexual gratification and the satisfaction of those watching them or consuming their acts. As described by Dines: “These men demonstrate zero empathy, respect, or love for the women they have sex with, no matter how uncomfortable or in pain these woman look” (Dines xxiv). Based on Dines’s account of the making and viewing of porn it can be said argued that the people involved here (e.g. consumers and actors) are exhibiting high negative freedom and low positive freedom. Due to the lack of restraints, these people decide that in order to fulfill their manhood or womanhood they should create their own guidelines and rules for themselves and determine their own parameters. Hence, they acquire the capacity to control their sexual acts so as to gratify their sexual desires. These people can do whatever they want because they are freed from restraints outside of themselves. For instance, due to the growth of the Internet even very young individuals who are computer literate enough to surf the Web can become consumers of such pornography. The lack of restrictions on the Internet gives porn consumers, actors, and makers too much freedom to do what pleases them, even such acts entail physical, emotional, and psychological damage. However, these self-imposed rules do not reduce the level of negative freedom, according to Fromm, since the rules have been created by these people themselves, of their own accord. He argued that no person can enchain him/herself. This form of negative freedom can merely be restrained by other people. In the case of the making and viewing of pornography, the people engaged in this industry impose restrictions within themselves, but these restrictions are intended to give a free rein to human sexual desires, not to control them. On the contrary, the activity of consumers in a shopping mall exhibits low negative freedom and high positive freedom. In Margaret Crawford’s article The World in a Shopping Mall, she depicts the psychological processes that occur in the initial stage of mall shopping—the ‘just looking’ stage (Crawford 13): By extending the period of ‘just looking’, the imaginative prelude to buying, the mall encourages ‘cognitive acquisition’ as shoppers mentally acquire commodities by familiarizing themselves with a commodity’s actual and imagined qualities. Mentally ‘trying on’ products teaches shoppers not only what they want and what they can buy, but also, more importantly, what they don’t’ have, and what they therefore need. Armed with this knowledge, shoppers can not only realize what they are but also what they might become. The above description reveals the sense of self-control that the ‘just looking’ phase creates. Consumers are not free individuals inside the shopping mall, but individuals who are subjected to restraints imposed by the very act of mall shopping or ‘just looking’. This form of restraint can be considered as positive freedom because it encourages individuality and the freedom to choose, while at the same time regulating intemperate desires. However, Crawford also argues that “the obligation to buy implied by the active exchange of bargaining was replaced by the invitation to look, turning the shopper into a passive spectator, an isolated individual, a face in the department-store crowd, silently contemplating merchandise” (Crawford 17-18). This description suggests that consumers in a shopping mall are isolated or detached from the crowd that surrounds them. This statement goes against Fromm’s definition of positive freedom, which states that it is inherently ‘social’. However, this gap seems immaterial if other thinkers’ interpretation of positive freedom is taken into account. As argued by Fromm, by learning to regulate one’s urges, that person in fact gains greater autonomy and, similarly, Fromm believes that positive freedom is the full realization of one’s individuality. Consumers inside a shopping mall are not free from outside restraints, but they are no longer entities submissive to their own desires. It is self-mastery that reconciles external restrictions and uninhibited individuality. Conclusions Freedom is a concept that is usually taken for granted at present. However, in the past, the very notion of freedom has spurred great minds and dauntless souls. Freedom is something that has long been desired by peoples of all nations. But freedom has largely been misunderstood, according to Fromm, and thus he formulated his concept of negative and positive freedom. This differentiation implies that freedom was never a one-dimensional idea. It could mean both the absence and presence of restrictions or constraints and individuality and collectiveness. This difference can be observed in actual activities, like mall shopping and making and viewing pornography. Works Cited Crawford, Margaret. “The World in a Shopping Mall.” Variations on a Theme Park. Ed. Michael Sorkin. New York: Hill & Wang, 1992, 3-30. Print. Dines, Gail. “Porn and the Industrialization of Sex.” Pornland: How Porn Has Hijacked Our Sexuality. New York: Beacon Press, 2010. Print. Fromm, Erich. Escape from Freedom. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1941. Print. Read More