A belief in Autonomy
Individuals and groups should be allowed as much autonomy as is practical, so long as they do not infringe on the lives and rights of others, either directly and individually, or indirectly and communally.
Quotations
“Between Stimulus and Response”
Freedom is the individual’s capacity to know that he is the determined one, to pause between stimulus and response and thus to throw his weight, however slight it may be, on the side of one particular response among several possible ones.
Indeed I would define mental health as the capacity to be aware of the gap between stimulus and response, together with the capacity to use this gap constructively.
Rollo May, from the article “Freedom and Responsibility Re-Examined”, 1963
“Freedom of Expression in Business”
…note that this implicit recognition of the right-side traits by the excellent companies is directly at the expense of more traditional left-brain business practices: causes to fight for are a long way from thirty quarterly MBO objectives. The intimate team or small division ignores scale economies. Allowing freedom of expression by thousands of quality circles flies in the face of the ‘one best way’ of traditional production organization.
Tom Peters and Robert H. Waterman Jr., from the book In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America”s Best-Run Companies, 1976, © Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman, Jr.
“Freedom of Judgment”
Since we have the rare good fortune to live in a commonwealth where the freedom of judgment is fully granted to the individual citizen and he may worship God as he pleases, and where nothing is esteemed dearer and more precious than freedom, I think I am undertaking no ungrateful or unprofitable task in demonstrating that not only can this freedom be granted without endangering piety and the peace of the commonwealth, but also the peace of the commonwealth and piety depend on this freedom.
Baruch Spinoza, from the book Tractatus Theologico-Politicus, 1670
“The heart of liberty”
At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.
Anthony M. Kennedy, from the opinion “Planned Parenthood v. Casey US Supreme Court opinion”, 1992
“Independence, freedom and opportunity for every member of society”
At the same time, the Nordic theory of love has become an overarching philosophy about how to structure a society. As such, it has inspired the broad variety of policy choices in the Nordic nations that together ensure a single, predominant goal: independence, freedom and opportunity for every member of society.
Anu Partanen, from the book The Nordic Theory of Everything: In Search of a Better Life, 2016
“Inextricably Linked in Freedom”
The originators of jazz were only two generations removed from slavery. They were victims of rigorous forms of segregation that routinely and institutionally denied their humanity. So freedom was much more than a word to them. These pioneering musicians were exuberant about exhibiting this newfound personal freedom through their art. But they were also excited about hearing other people do the same thing. They understood that all were inextricably linked in freedom, just as they had been inextricably linked in bondage. And it wasn’t theory; it was life as they lived it.
Wynton Marsalis, from the book Moving to Higher Ground: How Jazz Can Change Your Life, 2008, © Wynton Marsalis Enterprises
“Man must believe in an open future”
Man’s freedom is a reality – a reality that makes a difference to his physical, as well as his mental health. When Frankl’s prisoners ceased to believe in the possibility of freedom, they grew sick and died. On the other hand, when they saw that Dachau had no chimney, standing out all night in the rain seemed no great hardship; they laughed and joked. The conclusion needs to be stated in letters ten feet high. In order to realise his possibilities, man must believe in an open future; he must have a vision of something worth doing. And this will not be possible until all the determinism and pessimism that we have inherited from the 19th century – and which has infected every department of our culture, from poetry to atomic physics – has been dismissed as fallacious and illogical.
Colin Wilson, from the book New Pathways In Psychology: Maslow and the Post-Freudian Revolution, 1972
“The Most Precious Kind of Freedom”
But there are all different kinds of freedom, and the kind that is most precious you will not hear much talked about in the great outside world of winning and achieving and displaying. The really important kind of freedom involves attention, and awareness, and discipline, and effort, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them, over and over, in myriad petty little unsexy ways, every day. That is real freedom. The alternative is unconsciousness, the default setting, the “rat race” – the constant gnawing sense of having had and lost some infinite thing.
David Foster Wallace, from the speech “Commencement Address at Kenyon College”, 2005
“The Philosophy of Jazz”
Jazz is the most flexible art form ever because it believes in the good taste of individuals. It believes in our ability to make reasonable choices. It takes a chance on our decision-making skills instead of legislating our freedom away with written restrictions and restrictive hierarchies. In jazz, the size of your heart and your ability to play determine your position in the band. The philosophy of jazz is rooted in the elevation and enrichment of people, plain ol’ folks.
Wynton Marsalis, from the book Moving to Higher Ground: How Jazz Can Change Your Life, 2008, © Wynton Marsalis Enterprises
“Three basic forms of social liberty”
But for us, the key point to remember is that we are not talking here about ‘freedom’ as an abstract ideal or formal principle (as in ‘Liberty, Equality and Fraternity!’). Over the course of these pages we have instead talked about basic forms of social liberty which one might actually put into practice: (1) the freedom to move away or relocate from one’s surroundings; (2) the freedom to ignore or disobey commands issued by others; and (3) the freedom to shape entirely new social realities, or shift back and forth between different ones.
David Graeber and David Wengrow, from the book The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity, 2021, © David Graeber and David Wengrow