The Truman Show is a film that has been used in many studies whether it is theology, philosophy, or even in law. It is about a man whose life has been manipulated by a film producer in order to have a live stream show 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Many different philosophies have different views on how this is bad, wrong, or simply analytically fascinating, but nothing wrong or evil.
Freedom is, by definition, having real options, and to a Libertarian, Truman did have real options. Truman was not free to do whatever he wanted, because any option he wish he had was quelled by the cast of the show. Although, this can be argued that he still had a choice in the cafeteria, he still had choices about who to like, who to hate, simply he was influenced to do things a certain way. So a Libertarian might say he was partially free, and partially a slave.
On the other hand, a Determinist might just say it doesn’t matter if he’s free or not, because there is no such thing as freedom. We’re not really making choices, our brain chemistry is just reacting to an event before, therefore making your actions here just a result of that. Truman isn’t anymore a slave to that show than we are to nature. He is influenced, and his actions are a result of that, just as we are influenced by the illusion of freedom, and we act as a result of that.
Although Scientific Determinism speaks of it that way, Simple Indeterminists might completely disagree. Indeterminists would only agree on the fact that it doesn’t matter that he’s not free. He isn’t the effect of a cause. He is simply a series of non-existent, but possible theories of statistical data and predictions, and the progression of that. For example, Event A Truman could’ve committed suicide, but he didn’t, 2 options, 50% each, and then for Event B, Truman could’ve committed homicide, but he didn’t, 2 options, 50% each. Possibility of both options happening, 25%, due to event A times event B. Simple Indeterminists simply say, it is all about chance, and not about events causing things to happen, and so Truman was simply a result of a certain amount of possibilities.
While Freedom has opposites, some seek a middle ground; one of these theories is Compatibilism. Compatibilism might say Truman was not free until he tried to escape, because his actions were not a result of his own intentions until then. Before he escaped, his actions were not because of his own pure intention, not because of his own inner state or desire to do so. Only outside of his marriage, as he sought Sylvia, the ‘extra’ that he fell in love with, that would be considered a free action on his part. Many other things are not free to a Compatibilists, but that one desire of his to escape or to find Sylvia was his own free will.
As for Agency Theorists, Truman was free most of the time, just not ultimately. The little things he does, like walking around, playing with the mirror, and possibly talking to Sylvia. His life, on the other hand, would all be considered a lie and he was not free, he was confined within a limited amount of causes to a limited amount of effects. This is arguable that even life we are confined within a limited amount of causes to a limited amount of effects, but in life that is all there is for us, even if it is limited. For Truman, it is limited to an even greater degree than us. Perhaps an Agency Theorist would say that Truman is limited by the causes that Christof has for him, and he is not free, because his responses are just effects of that.
The Truman Show simply speaks of how many can view it as a limit of a man’s freedom, and how it is ethically wrong. Libertarians, Scientific Determinists, Simple Indeterminists, Compatibilists, and Agency Theorists all have their own views of such a scenario, and all serve different explanations.
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