Maggie's Farm

We are all aware of moments when our choices are less free - under the influence of pain, or alcohol, or any number of physical, emotional, or intellectual desires.

It's hard to get around the idea that there are thus times when we are more free. To retreat to the explanation that those more free times are merely a subtler illusion, when we are subject to other, less visible encroachments on our free will is to in fact cede the argument. If we can move from one master to another, we have at least that choice.

And, in a physical and social world where every choice must have some connection to an independent reality, being able to choose masters is not distinct in any real way from freedom. Without bodies, material, and others, freedom and choice have no meaning. "Free will" is a straw man - an attempt to define some good out of real existence and then chide us for not achieving it.

I am free to start another paragraph, or not, on the basis of contemplating my history, my audience, time constraints, and the self-editing function that determines whether I have anything worthwhile to say. To argue that use of any of these masters constitutes some sort of unfreedom is simply silly.