Objective possibility constitutes freedom but requires knowing and wanting

Evidence

Possibility is not reality: but it is in itself a reality. Whether a man can or cannot do a thing has its importance in evaluating what is done in reality. Possibility means “freedom”. The measure of freedom enters into the concept of man. That the objective possibilities exist for people not to die of hunger and that people do die of hunger, has its importance, or so one would have thought. But the existence of objective conditions, of possibilities or of freedom is not yet enough: it is necessary to “know” them, and know how to use them. And to want to use them. — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1285

Categorization

• DEFINE: Gramsci defines freedom/possibility as objective yet demanding conscious knowing and wanting to become real.
• XREF: Connects to the scaffold on whether abstract/socialist possibility that the oppressed never learn to use counts as freedom — bridges to Marx’s distinction of class-in-itself vs class-for-itself. — connects to: Freedom depends on the capacity of motion which requires space; Imperial expansion can proceed without deliberate intentions, powered by mere possibility; A rational, historicist will grounded in objective necessity grounds philosophy (+9 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1285