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Part VIII: Freedom and Human Dignity |
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Human history has been, among other things, a long struggle for freedom and dignity. Both freedom and dignity, like many of the other concepts discussed in The Conscious Reader, can be difficult to define in ways that suit all occasions. But in the context of individual struggles, freedom and dignity are very real. They affect not only how we feel about ourselves and how others view us, but also our efforts to earn fair wages, to live a life free of harassment and discrimination, and at the extreme, to live at all. In this section, you will find a wide range of historical perspectives on these topics as well as explorations of recent challenges to human freedom and dignity. The selections offer a number of perspectives. You will have the opportunity to read about the personal experiences and longings of oppressed individuals. You will also be given access to some of the landmark public statements on these issues. And you will read works that range across the genres of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama.
But most of all, you will have the opportunity to come to grips with the question of dignity as it fits into your own belief system and into those of groups to which you belong. It is the innate need to come to grips with this foundational question of human existence within our own day-to-day lives that makes this topic so rife with possibilities for your writing.
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