What Is Descartes Higher Grade Of Freedom

It is with Descartes that modern French philosophy is often characterized as having begun. Though Descartes’ position on freedom is not often accentuated, his emphasis on reason as being necessary for freedom is an idea that remained influential into the 18th century. Descartes clearly believes in freedom of the will or what he also calls freedom of choice, and adamantly defends this will as not being “restricted in any way” (CSM 57). However, this freedom of the will as described by Descartes in the fourth Meditation is complex in that it appears to have varying qualitative degrees of higher and lower freedom. Andrea Christofidou explains that the higher grade of freedom is “properly realized when reason’s clear and distinct perceptions motivate

Neither divine grace nor natural knowledge ever diminishes freedom; on the contrary, they increase and strengthen it. But the indifference I feel when there is no reason pushing me in one direction rather than another is the lowest grade of freedom; it is evidence not of any perfection of freedom, but rather of a defect in knowledge or a kind of negation. (CSM

In general I would become accustomed to believing that nothing lies entirely within our power except our thoughts, so that after doing our best in dealing with things external to us, whatever we fail to achieve is absolutely impossible so far as we are concerned … Making a virtue of necessity, as they say, we shall not desire to be healthy when ill of free when imprisoned, any more than we now desire to have bodies of a material as indestructible as diamond or wings to fly like the birds … Through constant reflection upon the limits prescribed for them by nature, they (early philosophers) became perfectly convinced that nothing was in their power but their thoughts, and this alone was sufficient to prevent them from being attracted to other things. Their mastery over their thoughts was so absolute that they had reason to count themselves richer, more powerful, freer and happier than other men who, because they lack this philosophy, never achieve such mastery over all their desires, however favored by nature and fortune they may be. (CSM 26; my