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>A will free from external influence. But what do you class as an external influence? Do social norms, including widely held moral codes, count? What about law

• GoblinSlayer 6y ago
  The first introductory lecture on politics starts with "laws are written by current political elite to enforce their interests". There are many social norms many people don't share like smoking, snobism, virtue signaling, fake smiles, it's even difficult to share the norms, because they don't make any coherent system.
  • dghf 6y ago
    >The first introductory lecture on politics starts with "laws are written by current political elite to enforce their interests". That doesn't make them any less real in their potential effects. Say I want to steal a stockbrocker's Bentley, but I don't because I fear the legal consequences. Is my will free from external influences? > There are many social norms many people don't share But there are few people who don't share any social norms. > it's even difficult to share the norms, because they don't make any coherent system I don't see that they have to. Hypocrisy has never been a bar to such norms: for example, not that long ago (and to some extent still today), men with illegitimate children were commonly excused or even lionised, while women with illegitimate children were stigmatised.