Losing our freedom 

It looks as if we have lost our freedom (temporarily at least). In France, lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic means we can go out to shop for food or for a short stroll around the house, but we cannot visit friends or family or go on the holiday we had scheduled. We cannot work as we used to, and we have to entertain our children all day. We cannot celebrate or commemorate together, as gatherings are prohibited. This goes for birthdays and for funerals alike. 

Where to find it 

Reading Epictetus’ Discourses on Freedom (4.1) is a reminder that in order to consider ourselves free, we need to know where to look for freedom. If we look for it in the wrong places, it is no surprise that we don’t find it. 

What are these wrong places? Epictetus mentions a few: power (in the form of high office or prestigious jobs), money, love. All are situations which we desire, but which enslave us because they generate too much attachment, anxiety and unhappiness. 

Signs of our slavery 

Unhappiness and anxiety are signs that we are slaves to something, which means we aren’t really free. 

“Do we have that many masters?” Epictetus’ student asks. 

“We do,” answers Epictetus. “Because over and above the rest, we have masters in the form of circumstances, which are legion.” (Epictetus, Discourses 4.1) 

It looks like this was written for us now! We may feel a slave to circumstances that we haven’t chosen. 

But the paradox I have been dealing with is the following: I accept that there are a number of external circumstances that hinder part of my external freedom. But the biggest challenge is realizing that the toughest master is not outside, but inside of me. 

The most difficult thing is not being prevented from going out and moving as I wish. The challenge is not being able to move inside myself, feeling trapped by my own desires or aversions (e.g., I would love to spend the whole day reading but I can’t; I don’t want to spend half of the day entertaining children but I have to). I also realize that this actually has nothing to do with lockdown circumstances. Lockdown just shows everything in a stronger light be-cause there is no escape from ourselves. 

True freedom, says Epictetus, concerns what is under our control. If we direct our freedom to what is not under our control—health, money, honors—we will never get it fully, creating fear and anxiety. This does not mean that we shouldn’t fight to gain external freedom—namely, political freedom, in the name of justice, which is one of the Stoic virtues. 

Freedom that can’t be taken away 

This means that the freedom which cannot be taken away from us—which Epictetus says is true freedom—concerns our judgments, our desires and aversions, and our impulse to act. Wanting to read all day makes no sense, for the simple reason that I can’t. 

So my true freedom lies in the way I decide to experience a temporary lack of external freedom and the family duties that go with it. Working on my judgments and my attitude is my challenge, but it is under my control. And that, in itself, is liberating. 

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Flora Bernard co-founded the Parisbased philosophy agency, Thae, in 2013. Flora now works to help organisations give meaning to what they do. 

 

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