What Is Freedom?

The following essay first appeared as an article in Alvaro de Vicente’s Substack publication, Men in the Making. For more articles like this one, you can visit his page here. Subscribe to the publication to stay up-to-date on Alvaro’s writing.

Much of what I write in Men in the Making concerns how parents and educators can help the young men in their care become free men. Whether by overcoming obstacles or embracing opportunities, my goal throughout the series has been to offer practical ways to foster true freedom in your boys.

Freedom is an ideal that people are instinctively drawn to. At the same time, the word is often used in unclear ways. Especially in a political context, people are quick to defend freedom with great energy—but rarely do they attempt to define it. As a foundational concept for the education and formation of boys, it is worth spending time reflecting on what freedom is.

A Given and a Goal

It is helpful to think of freedom as both inborn power and developed capacity—a given and a goal. By nature, every person possesses intellect and will: the ability to think and to choose. In this sense, freedom is not acquired but innate. Yet this faculty matures only when it is perfected, that is, when one develops the stable habit of choosing what is truly good. Thus, one is free to the extent that he consistently chooses the good. Freedom here becomes a goal—something cultivated rather than automatically possessed.

Because freedom is the capacity to choose one’s true good, it implies that some aims are better than others. We often think of freedom merely as the absence of external restraints. But a fuller view sees freedom not only as freedom from but as freedom for—freedom ordered to a purpose, an end, a good. In this light, one grows in freedom the more he is able to pursue his ultimate end.

External and Internal Freedom

Two dimensions of freedom illustrate this truth: external and internal.

External freedom, simply put, is the ability to move around physically. One gains external freedom, in the first place, through time. For instance, a baby who can barely move himself grows in external freedom as he ages. First he learns how to crawl, then he begins to walk; finally, he begins running and climbing, and so forth. Beyond time, strength and conditioning also contribute to growing in external freedom. The young man who exercises consistently will have a greater freedom to move than someone who does not, for he will be able to move faster and further, and be able to move heavier objects. In the same vein, eating a healthy diet can increase external freedom, as one is able to remain healthier for longer. Certain skills also increase one’s external freedom. If a boy learns how to play the piano, for example, he has gained a new freedom: whereas before he was limited to banging the keys, now he is free to play nimbly and with intention to bring about something beautiful. Driving a car is another common example of how skills can increase one’s external freedom.

It is also worth noting that one can lose external freedom. Time does this: the old man cannot move as well as the young man. Passivity also does this: if a boy stops exercising he will no longer be able to move as well. Poor choices can likewise restrict one’s freedom. For instance, if a boy decides to drive recklessly, he may end up losing some of his freedom, either because he ends up in the hospital or because he ends up losing his license. 

Notice that in all these instances, freedom involves an ability that is developed, and that this ability allows one to pursue a certain end. These abilities, moreover, have certain objective shapes that correspond to the nature of the activity. A decrease in freedom naturally follows from trying to do something in a way that goes against the nature of the activity. Poor form in lifting, which does not follow the way the body is designed to move, will end in injury. A poor diet that does not supply the necessary nutrients in the right amounts will decrease one’s health and therefore limit one’s external freedom. Any attempt to be free that is contrary to reality will be a short-lived freedom. The man who decides that he is going to be free of constraints by walking off a building will learn that his attempt to be free in this way is ultimately self-defeating. In all these instances, what good looks like is already set, and one grows in freedom to the extent that he harmonizes himself with that good. 

Internal freedom follows an analogous pattern. If external freedom is self-movement for a purpose, internal freedom is self-determination for a purpose. It requires two things: the right understanding of happiness (the true end of man) and the virtues that enable one to pursue it. Internal freedom is not mere rule-following out of duty, but wholehearted alignment of thought, desire, choice, and action with the good.

For a boy to become a free man, then, he must clearly see what his true purpose in life is, and avoid external and internal limitations to attaining this purpose. One subtle external limitation to developing this kind of freedom is not being allowed to make decisions for himself. Though younger boys do need external indications to help them develop good habits, parents and educators should gradually desist from simply telling their boys what to do as they grow older. Example and explanation will prove far more effective ways to foster freedom, so that they are able to exercise choosing the good for themselves.

Strategic Obsolescence

Parents and educators should embrace their own obsolescence as the byproduct of a job well done. The ultimate goal is that the young man develop the prudence to discern for himself what the true good is in any given situation, the discipline and self-mastery necessary to do that good, and the courage to get away with doing it in environments that make doing so difficult and unpopular.