Is Freedom About Doing What We Want?
Before diving into the debate, it is necessary to underline two ideas. The first would be that no one enjoys absolute freedom allowing him to be able to completely abstract himself from norms and values in order to act. The second idea relates to the fact that freedom includes not only the choice of one action or another, but also extends to thoughts and emotions: we have a certain margin to choose what to think or what to feel.
In addition, with the concept of will and capacity to choose is associated the responsibility which emanates from this privilege. So, in a way, any choice is associated with a forecast of the consequences, an estimate of the damages and the benefits. This is where the morals and ethics come into play, specific to each person, each group, each society or all of humanity.
If we look at our society, we will realize that we regard most people as free to choose. If not, what significance would democracy or the rules and laws that specifically sanction the lack of accountability associated with freedom have?
To declare oneself free is to declare oneself autonomous
When we are free, we are responsible for our decisions to the extent that we are the ones who make them and, for this reason, we assume autonomy, with all the positive and negative aspects that this implies. To bear the cost of what we decide requires the courage to be free to follow a path.
A cost that we will try to anticipate, reduce and ultimately assume knowing that we will have to pay it later. We assume that our decision is associated with a risk that can generate consequences on one side or the other. This risk exists because most of the time we are not the only craftsmen of reality, that there are other influencing factors that come into play. Other people, for example.
To be free and to think for oneself also requires a concession: the right to make mistakes. Even more: to fail and try again. The concepts of responsibility and cost reappear here. For example, many parents do not complete certain plans they would like when they want them because they know they have a responsibility to their children and that following their wishes would cost the family dearly.
Being free involves taking risks, with freedom requiring that we carry the weight of our decisions. Freedom isn’t just about doing what we want, it’s actually about drawing and building our path by deciding how, where and with whom we travel. To be free is to be autonomous to decide for oneself.
My freedom ends when yours begins
Here is the most important limit of freedom: coexistence with other freedoms, morals and ethics. I am free in a limited space, the one defined by my own values, the one allowed by the laws. These laws will be more restrictive than my personal values in some areas, in others not, and conflict will arise. Freedom and autonomy give us less room for movement than our imagination allows us.
One of the values that most people share is that of doing no harm. Hence the famous phrase according to which my freedom begins where that of the other ends. To follow such a rule is already a lesson in itself because if the laws are violated, they impose a punishment on those who will comment on what is stipulated as an offense. A restoration which will seek precisely to restore this damage caused.
Finally, to close this article, we will mention a curious phenomenon. There are a number of options out of which human beings can feel overwhelmed. We all felt it. We are going to buy a pen and there are many different types. In principle, this is a situation in which we will not consciously spend time, but it is not uncommon to see that we spend 10 minutes choosing when in reality we prefer to dedicate this time to other tasks. This is how this freedom distracts our will, as if this high number of options bothered us.
With its paradoxes and advantages, freedom is one of our great privileges. Most of us undoubtedly have a lot of leeway to do and undo at will, to decide and grow in a dependent (due to our social nature) and autonomous manner.
Our thoughts Freedom is the most precious treasure of the human being.
