Christianity on Problem of Freedom

Dostoyevsky has managed to establish his stand on life, existence, and on faith through his
novels like The Brothers Karamazov, The Grand Inquisitor, and others. He always juxtaposed the
believer with the non-believer as to show their own version of struggles. With that, Dostoyevsky
sees Christianity as both the probable reason for the lack of freedom and also the reason to achieve
freedom.

Dostoevsky speaks through his characters to present his stand about Christianity and religion.
One of the most striking lines that he wrote in his novel has answered the problem on freedom.
“Nothing is more seductive for man than his freedom of conscience. But nothing is a greater cause of
suffering” (Dostoevsky 309). He recognizes that having the freedom of conscience can be attractive
but having no conscience can lead to more suffering. In one of his characters, he admits that he does
not have anything against Christianity but what he disagrees with is the world that Christianity
created. He considers Christ to be more relevant than truth.

He presents various forms of freedom which anchors on positive and negative which are
presented through his characters. But what is certain is that Christianity can be both the reason for
the problem of freedom as well as the solution in itself. It is among his paradoxical ideas but
certainly shows how he believes in Christianity.

With that, the world that Christianity created is problematic. This is something that many might
disagree with or might cause problems but for him, it is the reason for existence. Despite his
extreme ideas, he still sees Christianity is the solution to the problem of freedom. There is a paradox
in his views of freedom. The problem with the product and process. However, one thing is certain.
Dostoyevsky acknowledges the need for Christ to have the essence in life. That according to him, if
he were to discover that truth is outside of Christ, he would choose to believe in Christ.

Works Cited

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. The Brothers Karamazov. Dent, 1967.

Kierkegaard always put forward the importance of self-knowledge. He sees the

A human being has the concept of self and spirit. The self, for Kierkegaard, is seen to
be the last priority of the world and appears to be the most dangerous thing of all
for a person to present signs of having (Kierkegaard 32). This can be connected with
Socrates’ concept of self awareness. Kierkegaard asserts that losing one’s self I this
world is the greatest danger that one can experience. It is the loss that one will barely
notice but can give a big damage.

In connection to this, he sees the modern media as a threat. The press is perceived to
be like an attack dog which goes after individuals to give out spurious public opinion
(Kierkegaard n.p.). He considers idle chatter as one symptom of mass evasiveness.
This is considered as a superficial matter.

He also believes that the modern culture appears to only seek to be high self-serving
and gratifying. It tends to promote individualism and the self wherein fact this is the
false kind of self. This leads to a king of life where the person seems to be happy
when all his wants are satisfied. This makes a life that is meaningless since it lacks the
abstraction and self mastery as the superficial gratification of the self is continuously
done.

With that, one can assert that Kierkegaard prioritizes the knowledge and mastery of
the self and sees the media as one way of misleading the self. An example given is
teh idle chatter. He further comments on how people appears to serve their false
selves making life meaningless.

Works Cited
Kierkegaard, Søren, and Robert W Bretall. A Kierkegaard Anthology. Modern
Library, 1946.
 Marx’s Theory of Alienation

One of Marx’s concept is alienation - something that people can feel almost everywhere
but most specially in workplaces. According to Marx, in the process of working, the worker
or the proletariat ends up being alienated. He cannot identify himself with the things that he
is producing since he is not the capitalist. He cannot fully enjoy himself because by the time
he goes home, he feels nothing but exhaustion. With that, Marx’s alienation theory is still
prevalent and relevant even until now.
Alienation is the objectification of the worker. It is when the worker produces more
work, the less he consumes, the more value he creates, the worthless he turns out (Marx
61). It transpires when the the relationship between the worker and his product is ignored.
At the end of the day, the products are owned by the capitalist. In this sense, the worker is a
mere object that paves way to the production of the necessary goods for the benefit and
profit of the capitalist.
The primary cause of this situation is capitalism and the big gap between the rich and
the poor. The proletariat ends up working for the bourgeoisie but loses their selves along the
way. In the factories, the life is mechanical and routinized leading to alienation of the
people. The worker produces more but feels less of a person at the end of the day.
There are four ways that alienation applies. First is alienation of the worker from
human nature. He gets to be deprived of human experiences since he works like a robot all
throughout the day. By the time he reaches home, he manages to eat and rest for a while
and may end up sleeping because of the day’s work. The same thing happens the next day. It
appears to be in an autopilot that the person may end up feeling away from his human
nature enjoying life and experiences. Another is alienation from fellow human beings.
Immersion in work would mean less interaction with people and less chance to exchange
thoughts and feelings with them. And lastly, alienation from the act of producing and the
product of his labor since again, as mentioned, the products are owned by the capitalist and
not by the producer. As he is seen as merely an object.

Works Cited

Marx, Karl. Simon, Lawrence (ed). Karl Marx: Selected Writings. Cambridge: Hackett Publishing
Company Inc. 1994.
 Weber’s Attitude towards Rationalization
The concept rationalization is an idea by Max Weber as he considers the advancement
of society through its modernization. Weber has a negative attitude towards this concept as
he considers it as the central problem. With that, his concept of rationalization should be
further explored.
Rationalization refers to the society’s process of seeking efficiency, predictability,
dehumanization, and calculability. It refers to the supplanting of values leading to
depersonalized and dehumanized society (Tsakiris n.p.). It is also considered to be the heart
of the problem of the modern and industrialized world. This happens because of the
people’s growing lack of values. This is indeed a problem since people appear to let loose of
their hold on their human side because of modernization. There is nothing wrong about
advancing but with the effect of modernization and rationalization that is evident until now,
human beings are becoming less humans as time goes by. No wonder that capitalism and
the theory of alienation come after this.
Different from traditionalism, rationalism is the movement towards the new
approaches and non-traditional methods. The behavior of people in the rationalism is guided
by logic and practicality and less by human connections and traditions. This is a justified
problem by Weber since people are losing their human side and their set of values to keep
up in the modern world. From this point, capitalism follows. This is where the shift from the
tradition to the practicality. Hence, people are becoming more focused on the becoming
efficient and paving way to creating more profit.
With that, Weber’s attitude towards rationalization may sound negative for many. It is
true that as one rationalizes, the less humane they become. However in the modern world,
this is inevitable since the modernization is happening and nobody can stop it from
transpiring.