Four freedoms: How to achieve them

Looking at the traps we are caught in and setting ourselves free

What is freedom? It depends on who is answering the question. If you are living in an oppressive country, you may say freedom is to be free from oppression. If you are dirt poor, you may say freedom is not worrying about where your next meal is going to come from. If you are a chronically sick person beset with pain, you may say freedom is a healthy body without pain. Depending on who you ask, freedom could be a lot of money, having whatever you want, and having power over others. Or something else.

You have got it all wrong, said the Stoics. Freedom doesn’t come from getting rid of the things that afflict us or getting what we are after. Even if you could get rid of what is afflicting you now, there is no guarantee that something else that is equally bad won’t take its place. Even if you get all you are after, there is no guarantee that you will never lose it all. True freedom, the Stoics said, is psychological freedom.

Freedom is not owned by those who bought or sold it. It is something you ask of yourself and give yourself. - Moral Letters, 80

It is the freedom that cannot be taken away from you by dictators, poverty, or illness. It is the ability to be free despite what you have or don’t.

Free people are not waiting for someone to grant their freedom and happiness. No matter what condition they find themselves in, they are free. You are free when you realize that no external things can give you enduring freedom, and the only way to realize it is to seek it within. There are four common reasons (arbitrarily classified by me) why we are not free. Let’s look at these more closely.

1. Mental freedom: Worries and anxieties

When we worry, we are caught up in the past. When we are anxious, we are caught up in the future. We cannot be free when trapped in the past or the future. Worries and anxieties are caused by our tendency to try to control what is not under our control. Neither our past nor our future is under our control.

Whenever I see a person suffering from anxiety, I think, well, what can he expect? Unless you want something not under your control, how can you be anxious? - Epictetus, Discourses 2.13.

You don’t have to worry or be anxious, says Marcus Aurelius. And you don’t have to wait long. You can let go of the past and the future and have all you have been working towards right now. 

You have been trying to reach many things by taking the long way around. All these things can be yours right now if you stop denying them to yourself. All you have to do is let go of the past, trust the future to providence… - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 12.1.

And Seneca points to the absurdity of being unhappy before the things we are anxious about happen. We anticipate sorrow and experience misery now when we can be happy and free.

What I advise you to do is, not to be unhappy before the crisis comes; since it may be that the dangers before which you feared as if they were threatening you, will never come upon you; they certainly have not yet come.  Accordingly, some things torment us more than they should; some torment us before they should; and some torment us when they should not torment us at all.  We are in the habit of exaggerating, or imagining, or anticipating, sorrow. - Seneca, Moral Letters, 13

We don’t control the past – it has already happened. We don’t control the future – it is not predictable. So, the right path to freedom is not to be excessively concerned about these but confine ourselves to doing what is under our control today.

2. Physical freedom: Sickness and death

The thoughts that we should always be healthy and never die are irrational beliefs and not consistent with reality. We can deal with this in two ways. First, we must realize that sickness and death are inevitable and, therefore, not under our control. Second, because these are not under our control, we should accept them and not be afraid. Here is Epictetus in conversation with a student:

“Do you mean to say that you are immune from illness, death, age, and disease?”
“No, but I would die and bear disease God-like. This much is in my power. This I can do. All other things you say are not in my power and I cannot do them. I will show you the strength of a philosopher.”
“What kind of strength are you talking about?”
“A desire that is always fulfilled. An aversion that does not face what it wants to avoid. The right choice. A well-considered assent. This is what you shall see.”
– Epictetus, Discourses 2.9 

What is Epictetus talking about here? He is just saying that you can do nothing about death or terminal illness, so accept it with dignity. Be god-like when facing disease or death. This is under your control. Your only other alternative is to be miserable.

3. Social freedom: What others think

This is a big one. From “What will the neighbours think?” to irrational demands like, “Everyone should respect me,” this self-imposed trap makes many of us unfree. The clothes we wear, the houses we live in, the cars we drive, the places we go to, the words we use, and the emotions we display are all influenced by what others think. It is not always bad to consider “what others may think.” We live in a society, and there is nothing wrong with being adjusted to it. But when we depend on other people’s approval for everything we do, we give up our freedom. Such fear of public opinion may also show up as anxiety and make us unable to act effectively. Epictetus explains this well.

[A] musician when singing by himself has no anxiety, but when he enters the theatre, he is anxious even if he has a good voice and plays his instrument well; because not only does he wish to sing well, but also to be liked by the crown: but this isn’t in his power. – Epictetus. Discourses 2.13.

So, to be free, we need to free ourselves from being concerned about what others might think about us unless we are doing something offensive to others. Not bothering about public opinion will carry us a long way to total freedom.

4. Thought freedom: What we think

When we are unhappy because someone else has what we don’t have or has more of what we have, we fall into the trap of envy. Envy is often a part of our decision not to be free, even when we have everything we need to be free. We may be happy with the salary raise until we learn that a colleague got a higher increase. Now we are unhappy. The same raise that made us happy yesterday makes us unhappy today. This is an error in your thought process, and it is a very common one. It can be about your house, job, accomplishments, or anything else. Our happiness is not decided by what we have but by what others have. What others have is not under our control; thus, we are trapped. Our judgment that someone else should not have more than us took away our freedom. Since someone else will likely always have more, resentment is a quick way to lose our freedom. Our envy does not affect the person envied. It only deprives us of our freedom. We inflict this on ourselves, and we can choose not to.

Another way to look at it is to realize that you have something the other person does not.

When you see someone in power, compare it to the benefit you have by not wanting it. When you see someone rich, see what you have instead of riches…If you have the advantage of not needing riches, know that you have something more than what the other person has, and of far greater value. Someone has an attractive spouse; you, the happiness of not desiring one. - Epictetus, Discourses 4.9

Getting out of any trap

Here, we covered four major ways of being trapped and losing freedom. But if we look more closely, no matter the problem, the causes and solutions are the same. The structure of all our problems is the same, no matter where they arise or when they arise.

1. We have an irrational belief. (For example, my past and future should be under my control, others should not have more than me, others should always think well of me, and I should never get sick.) These beliefs are irrational because they are not under our control.

2. We think we can control things by controlling what is not under our control. (For example, we cannot change our past, change everyone’s thinking, or live forever.)

3. We think once we change the externals, we will be free. (For example, we think we will be free if we have more money, prestige, and the like.) Externals don’t have the power to set us free.

So the only way to be totally free is to identify the irrational beliefs that underlie our thinking, realize that we are trying to control what cannot be controlled by manipulating the externals, and fully know that externals can never lead us to freedom. Once we fully comprehend this, we will fully focus on what is under our control. When you only deal with what is under your control, you are totally free, and no one can take this freedom from you.

PRACTICING STOICISM

The ancient Stoics offered simple and effective solutions to everyday problems. And yet, just knowing the basics will not get you far. Neither will random reading of Stoic literature. To achieve happiness and freedom, you must consistently commit yourself to practicing Stoicism. Every day. Practice is key. Musicians do it. Athletes do it. No excellence can be achieved without practice. We are here to help you all the way. So, fellow Prokoptons, we are glad you joined us by committing to practicing Stoicism daily!

If you are not yet a part of the prokopton community, please consider joining us. It may be one of the best decisions of your life.

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