Is there any difference between ‘freedom of will’ and ‘freedom of choice?’
It’s curious that Viktor Frankl calls one of logotherapy’s three core principles not ‘freedom of choice’ but rather ‘freedom of will.’ Apart from the better aesthetic “fit” in juxtaposing ‘freedom of will’ next to the principle ‘will to meaning’ in a sentence, I would like to suggest what might have been a more fundamental reason for Frankl’s choice of words.
We have the ability to discern the difference between various options and subsequently choose in favor of a course of action that represents to us the higher value at any given moment. Even in the most limiting circumstances imaginable, as long as we have a functioning brain we can choose our attitude. From the simplest level of a child wanting an ice cream cone to a spiritual leader wanting to serve his community, we make choices about what we want.
What allows us to choose in the first place is our will. Frankl says that we are ‘deciding beings.’ At every moment we decide not only what to do but who we want to be in the next moment. We determine what we want based on many things, among them our estimation of the worth of something or our perception of need. Our will, as an intrinsic part of self, is a free agent, and while people can try to tell us what to do, no one can tell us what to want.
Thus in asserting ‘freedom of will’ I understand Frankl to mean that even before deciding what we will choose, we are free to decide that we will choose.