In a pandemic we learn again what Sartre meant by being free | Psyche Ideas

https://psyche.co/ideas/in-a-pandemic-we-learn-again-what-sartre-meant-by-being-free

In short, the pandemic enables us to see more clearly the difference between the hollow freedom to act without impediment and the true freedom to act in accordance with our all-things-considered judgments. The American philosopher Harry Frankfurt in 1971 illuminated the difference with his distinction between the things that we simply want and the ones that, after consideration, we want to want. For instance, if I want a doughnut and eat it, I'm simply following my desires, the wants I find myself having at any given moment. But if, on reflection, I don't want to eat junk food (or, at least, not often) then I have the capacity to veto these wants in the light of what I know I want to want. This kind of freedom requires self-restraint. A person without this capacity is not truly free but is what Frankfurt calls a 'wanton': a slave to his desires.

_- Steve