There are some days when I feel extremely lazy and I wish I did not have to wash my dishes after I eat or write this essay. A part of me whispers, “May, let’s watch a couple more YouTube videos, shall we? Let’s be free to do anything we desire!” I would then slump onto my bed and laze around, enjoying my freedom.
But am I actually free? Some philosophers, such as Immanuel Kant, might say no.
There are two concepts of freedom or liberty in philosophy – positive and negative freedom.
Negative Freedom
Negative freedom comes from the absence of barriers against one’s actions. One is free when one can do what one wants without the presence of any obstacles. This is the type of freedom that we are usually accustomed to. The freedom that I envisioned when I lay on my bed, scrolling through videos, is of this type because I am doing what I desire.
Positive Freedom
Kant claims that we are only free when we follow rules.
What? How can I be free when I am constrained by rules?! But hold on, there is more to Kant’s claim.
The rules cannot be just any rules; they have to be our rules. In other words, we are only free when we abide by the rules that we make ourselves.
The rules cannot be just any rules; they have to be our rules. In other words, we are only free when we abide by the rules that we make ourselves.
The rules have to be our rules.
The second part of Kant’s claim─that the rules have to be our rules─is probably on more familiar ground. It would be more interesting to put this in a political context.
We usually consider the citizens of a democratic country to be freer than those of a totalitarian country because the former actually have a say in the laws that they follow.
Depending on the degree of democracy practised in the country, the citizens are free because they make their own laws and abide by these laws. Similarly, we would think that, as an individual, we are free when we follow our own rules and decisions instead of others’.
How about the first part of Kant’s claim ─ that we are free when we follow rules? In order to understand what he means, we have to first know his idea of a human being.
Kant, like many other earlier philosophers, thought that human beings are imperfect rational beings. Even though we have the power of reason, we are also governed by our inclinations.
This human nature to desire is deemed inferior compared to the power of reason (this claim is also famously discussed in Plato’s The Republic). This is because inclinations are similarly present in other beings such as animals; hence, what really separates us from them is our rationality.
Only humans have the power of reason (animal experts can fight with Kant on this but please spare me).
Therefore, when we follow our inclinations or desires rather than our reason, we have fallen to a lower plane of beings. We fail to act beyond our mere impulses and appetites. We become slaves to our irrational passions.
However, when we listen to our reason, we break free from the chains of our passions and we gain our freedom. And how do we listen to our reason? We use it to make a law and follow it (only rational beings are capable of acting according to laws).
In a broader sense, positive freedom can be defined as the control a person has over herself whereas negative freedomcan be thought of as the absence of obstacles to oneself — a difference between internal versus external factors that determine one’s freedom. Kant’s freedom is the positive kind.
How to Stop Procrastination with Kantian Philosophy
How does all of these connect to how Kant helps me not to procrastinate?
When I find myself spending an hour writing only a sentence because I keep getting distracted by YouTube or Twitter, I tell myself: “May! Kant’s now frowning at you because you are only listening to your irrational desires even though you need to submit this essay.” I know that, rationally, I need to really finish writing and so I follow my reason and make a law for myself: I have to write at least one page by 10 pm. Whenever I start to lose my focus again, I remember Kant (sometimes I would crazily mutter Kant, Kant, Kant) to motivate myself to keep working in order to exercise my positive freedom.
This is not only helpful for my academics but also for many other aspects of my life. When I want to sleep in and skip working out, I think of Kant and I would get out of my bed immediately. When I am about to press the ‘Next episode’ button on Netflix at 3.34 am, after watching 8 consecutive episodes of a show, despite knowing that I will get a headache for not sleeping enough, I think of Kant and I would shake my head and declare under my breath, “I refuse to be governed by this incredibly addictive show and I will practise my rationality and exercise my freedom by going to sleep now.”
In general, whenever you start to put off doing something (e.g., work, sleep, eat) for no good reasons, you can try to fight against the tendency by reflecting on how this can threaten your free will.
Ask yourself: Am I really a slave to my desires? Is my will not free to escape my irrational passions? If you decide that you want to exercise your positive freedom, then make a rule for yourself to complete the work that you need to do and follow it!
Of course, I do not think that negative freedom is bad and, despite the label, it does not mean that it should be negatively perceived.
After all, we do exercise negative freedom most of the time. This is my vote and no one else can influence it. I want to wear this and I do not need others to agree. I choose to say this without any restrictions. But what I hope to do in this article is to suggest an alternative philosophical perspective that you can take when you need some motivation to (or not to) pursue something.