Individual Freedom Overcomes Social Responsibility

A detailed Summary of Individual Freedom Overcomes Social Responsibility

In the never-ending battle between the ideas of individual freedom and social responsibility, individual freedom is the victor. This clash can be seen in Antigone's trials in Sophocles' Antigone, Emerson's "Self Reliance", and Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience." Though these writers convey the same idea, they are expresses in many different ways. Emerson wishes all to care about themselves to show their individualism. Thoreau and Sophocles both articulate that one should make their own decisions not let the state ruin their lives.

In Antigone, Sophocles shows his wanting of disagreement with the monarch. Polyneices, Antigone's brother, revolts against Thebes and wishes to overthrow Creon. Polyneices is killed in the battle and left to rot on the battlefield. Antigone is outraged at the decision by the over-bearing monarch to disgrace her family. She plans a disregarding of the edict and a proper burial for her brother. Ismene does not believe in the unlawful action and warns her sister. "You ought to realize we are only women." (Line 70) Antigone thinks of her sister as a disrespectful sibling. Antigone does not want to scar her family's legacy any more but Ismene just does not see that. Ismene does not show her individualism but A

Ralph Waldo Emerson believes in knowing thyself and knowing thyself is always right. This is seen is his essay "Self Reliance". He thinks that a man who thinks only on his one is a true genius. He states that one's one moral ethics are the more important than the laws set up by society. "No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature." That idea is the basis on individual freedom. Emerson thinks that you should not conform to society. Conformity leads to lack of independence, which in Emerson's mind is the greatest of all things attainable. "Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist."

Individual freedom is the thought that one can make his/her own decisions without the help of society. Social Responsibility is the thought that one should be helpful always to the community and care more about others than you. By understanding the ideas expressed by Sophocles, Emerson, and Thoreau, one can understand the approval on individual freedom and the dislike of social responsibility. Antigone's battle with Creon showed how an individual may lose the battle to the monarch but the war goes to the individual. Emerson's view on nonconformity shows a more practical way to practice individual freedom in one's life. Thoreau showed in his own life an extreme way of being an individual.

Henry David Thoreau expresses his views on individual freedom in the essay "Civil Disobedience". "That gov

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Approximate Word count = 942
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Science