Free Act

What is freedom, and what is being able to act freely? Unless they are incarcerated, humans are generally free to do whatever we want to do. We can walk out of work and decide we are never coming back. We can choose to watch television all day instead of occupying ourselves with some other type of useful employment. Because of the consequences of these actions, however, most people do not feel free to commit these kind of acts. An instance in which this is extremely relevant is a choice that I made concerning school. Because my friends were in town, I decided to stay up late with them watching movies instead of completing my paper that was due the next day. No one forced me to make this choice, and I decided to do it because I valued spending time with my friends more than I valued school at that moment. The next day, however, my values changed as I dragged myself out of bed at six in the morning to complete the rest of my paper, which I would have to re-submit after receiving a low grade. The next morning, I did not have the freedom to do what I wanted to do, sleep, because of the choice I made the night before. My lack of freedom in the morning was based on my changing values. I could not do what I wanted to do in the morning because my values had shifted. Though I wanted one thing, sleep, I valued another, education.

What this example shows, then, is that freedom is much more complex than simply one's ability to do what one wants to do. Instead, freedom is much more complex. What makes an act truly free is not only doing what one wants, but being able to do what one wants to do in addition to what one values. That is, a free act must be free with no constraints. Free acts must satisfy both one's short- and long-term goals, one's conscious and subconscious. Because this is very difficult, even for the most aware person, an argument can be made that we are not, and can never be, free.