Comments on: On Social Determinism http://www.humanityiloveyou.com/2009/12/04/on-social-determinism/ An open reflection on self and society Fri, 20 Jan 2012 17:04:47 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Nader Atassi http://www.humanityiloveyou.com/2009/12/04/on-social-determinism/comment-page-1/#comment-112 Nader Atassi Thu, 18 Feb 2010 08:11:38 +0000 http://www.karimdelgado.com/?p=357#comment-112 I sense a tinge of existentialism in this writing. Great stuff. Social determinism is the ultimate denial of liberty, but it's not surprising that a lot of people subscribe to it(most of the time unknowingly). I believe the reason for this is that many people simply don't like the idea of freedom. Some like orderly, authoritarian environments. I know what you're thinking: to say that is in itself a socially deterministic argument. To clarify, I'm not saying that they are bound to this way of thinking. I'm saying that those people freely make the choice to deny their freedom. Back to my point, the reason that social determinism is so popular is because the idea of freedom is scary, certainly at first. When coming to the realization that you are completely free, and you are not bound by anything, it can certainly be a very frightening prospect, because the freedom to act also means that you are responsible for all the consequences of your actions, which is not something everybody can man up to. But once you pass the frightened phase, and realize that this freedom also means that there are endless possibilities, the freedom that you were once frightened of becomes enlightening and empowering. I may just be echoing Sartre here, but I thought I should comment on something that I strongly agree with you on. Cheers. I sense a tinge of existentialism in this writing. Great stuff. Social determinism is the ultimate denial of liberty, but it’s not surprising that a lot of people subscribe to it(most of the time unknowingly). I believe the reason for this is that many people simply don’t like the idea of freedom. Some like orderly, authoritarian environments.

I know what you’re thinking: to say that is in itself a socially deterministic argument. To clarify, I’m not saying that they are bound to this way of thinking. I’m saying that those people freely make the choice to deny their freedom.

Back to my point, the reason that social determinism is so popular is because the idea of freedom is scary, certainly at first. When coming to the realization that you are completely free, and you are not bound by anything, it can certainly be a very frightening prospect, because the freedom to act also means that you are responsible for all the consequences of your actions, which is not something everybody can man up to. But once you pass the frightened phase, and realize that this freedom also means that there are endless possibilities, the freedom that you were once frightened of becomes enlightening and empowering. I may just be echoing Sartre here, but I thought I should comment on something that I strongly agree with you on. Cheers.

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