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Being Influenced By American Culture

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My preliminary thought (being influenced by American culture) is that it is unjust to force someone to comply with – at least some of – your beliefs. However, I also hope I can rationalize that idea. The word “force” connotatively implies, ‘to impede upon something’; in this case the impediment would be upon a form of freedom, since one is not free to make choices in what they believe. Arguably, the freedom to make choices (especially concerning beliefs) is not a human law, but a natural law of intrinsic origin, and thus, it would be unjust to hinder it. The distinctive characteristic of humans is their ability to reason. According to Aristotle the function, or purpose, of a human being, is in fact, to do well at acting in accordance with reason (Irwin 13). Subsequently, within the realm of reasoning resides making choices with, and regard to, reasoning. So rational choices then also play a role in the fulfillment of human nature. Immanuel Kant depicted, free will, as something that is “ascribed to every rational being” (Brussel 215). If free will is the ability to act at one 's own discretion, then this enhances the idea that the ability to make choices is a right that belongs to every rational being. However, the most vital – and likewise idealistic – component of this notion is that all choices are governed by reason. If all actions were governed by reason and all reason was rationalized then, I believe, arguing with someone would be extremely beneficial. This is

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