Freedom means autonomy of choice, not success in obtaining one’s ends.
Evidence
In addition it is necessary to point out to “common sense” that the formula “to be free” does not mean “to obtain what one has wished” but rather “by oneself to determine oneself to wish” (in the broad sense of choosing). In other words success is not important to freedom. The discussion which opposes common sense to philosophers stems here from a misunderstanding: the empirical and popular concept of “freedom” which has been produced by historical, political, and moral circumstances is equivalent to “the ability to obtain the ends chosen.” The technical and philosophical concept of freedom, the only one which we are considering here, means only the autonomy of choice. — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 1154
Categorization
- DEFINE: Sartre crisply distinguishes the technical/philosophical concept of freedom (autonomy of choice) from the popular concept (ability to obtain ends chosen).
- XREF: The prisoner example and the freedom-to-try formula connects directly to Beauvoir’s ethics of ambiguity, which inherits this exact distinction. — connects to: Freedom requires choosing one’s own essence, not merely one’s acts — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 1126; Freedom exists only as engaged, self-choosing action, never as undetermined potential — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 1145; Freedom requires a perpetual renewal of self-choice without any support — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 1147 (+5 more)
- DEEPTHINKING: The claim that success is irrelevant to freedom is genuinely counterintuitive and paradigm-shifting: freedom is defined purely by the autonomy of self-determination, decoupling it from any outcome.
Broader Connections
- Freedom means choosing oneself within one’s world, not choosing the world itself.
#corroborates(0.85) - Freedom is meaningful only as engaged by free choice of ends
#corroborates(0.80) - Freedom is the small capacity to not fully reproduce one’s conditioning.
#expands(0.80) — Christine Daigle, Jacob Golomb (eds.), Beauvoir and Sartre, 635 - Gaining freedom paradoxically requires relinquishing some autonomy to rules.
#qualifies(0.75)