People strive to feel free, or what is more commonly referred to as having personal autonomy. However, social divisions imposed as a result of social order prevent humans from achieving complete independence. The social constructions of society influence people's behavior in advance. The standards and expected social behavior are determined by the cultures, which foretell what must be done and how it should be done. People are conditioned and restricted by the society as a result of the social restrictions that prevent them from obtaining complete autonomy or from being free agents. Debord, Debord, & Knabb, (2014), argues that the relationship between people and society has been described in different ways depending on either the perspective of the society of individuals. The level of “free will” has limitations because people are victims of the social conditions that they find themselves into. The challenge of achieving autonomy is based on this aspect of social constraints. It is not possible to have autonomy if there are social constraints.
From the definition of identity, “personal identity” is viewed as a sociological concept that refers to how a person develops a story about him or her with regard to social and cultural factors (Cote, & Levine, 2014). This is to stress that the psychological concept of “self” builds upon the context of society. The inner experiences and the outer experiences reflect different the difference between the free will of a person and the social constraints. For example, the “social norms” determine the some of the dressing code that people are expected to dress in certain places. In certain cultures, women are not allowed to wear short dresses. These inhibitions show that people are not autonomous or free agents rather conditioned and constrained by the society. The conditionings of the societies determine partly what people are expected to do or conduct themselves.
Van den Bos, (2009) believes that the concept of “free will” is an illusion that people live with and tries to live and manage part of the behaviors. As much as people aspire to become “free” or behave freely, human behavior must be constrained. Societies have arranged themselves in such a way that they determine the way people think, behave or even act. From childhood, a person is preconditioned to behave or think in a certain way. For example, how people talk is because they have been preconditioned that way. Ideally, if you took an American child before he or she has learned how to speak to China, the child will be conditioned to speak and behave like Chinese. Thus, people are just conditioned and constrained by the society to behave as the society expects.
One of the assumptions about humans is that they have “free will” and not all behaviors are determined. Personal agency is the exact term used to describe this concept of free will. However, even the extent of free will is determined by the society. For example, even it is allowed to rest on public seats a person cannot just go and sleep there for a year. This person will be seen as causing public disturbance despite the person having a free will to do whatever pleased. The implication is that the limitation of free will makes people conditioned and constrained by the society through its social norms.
Also, Christman (2004), states that an autonomous individual is one who has free will to choose the kind of social relations to engage and the person has a substantive power and authority to control such engagement. However, it is not possible to have that ultimate control of free will because of the interactions with other people. The unwritten rules of engagement with other people which in most cases are determined by the society are the reason why people are not autonomous or free agents but conditioned by the society.
Fiske, & Taylor (2013), believes that social conditions and behaviors of individuals are linked. The question of directly transferring norms from the society to people may not be the concern mainly because it through social experiences that people have becomes embodied to customs. People respond to situations based on the past experience which means the prior preconditioning are the determining factors (Csikszentmihalyi, 2014). Although some instances of social unconformity have been experienced, the overwhelming majority play by the rules. For example, some childhood experiences become the determinant behaviors of a person when the person grows old. Thus, it is clear that despite the determination of becoming autonomous, the preconditions experienced in the previous encounters become the driving force.
Furthermore, as identified in philosophy autonomy is the idea of the capacity of one to be one’s own person and live according to what the person believes is being good depending on personal aspiration and motives based on one’s own and not coerced or manipulated by any external forces (Christman, 2008). In other words, the person controls his or her actions, choices, thoughts, and will. This is practically unviable because people do not live in a vacuum. There is the interaction between people that creates influence on one's thoughts. Peer pressure exists because of the interactions between people which show that it is not possible to have autonomy among people. Besides, one must do things according to the society’s norms which depict that one’s thoughts must conform to the social demands of the society (Kendall, 2015).
In addition, the question of being autonomous, free agents or conditioned and constrained by society can be fully answered depending on the context of the cause and action of people. A person can be autonomous but still be limited by the conditions of the society. Furthermore, influence from other people including family and friends constitute part of general society’s influence on a person. Therefore, as much as people think they are their own person, they still have other limitations that can be directly or indirectly attributed to the society. In this light, people are conditioned and constrained by society.
In conclusion, people are as free as they think but still limited to the society demands. The society constitutes the social the way of living defining some of the dos and don’ts. The people are forced to live within these conditions and constraints despite how unpleasant they might be to a person. Conformity to these rules is not based personal opinion but the conditions and the ways of the society of ensuring that people conform to its demands. Through exploring some of the issues that limit the person’s autonomy and liberty to do as the person wishes, the essay has shown that people are conditioned and constrained by society. People aspire to be free and autonomous but to maintain social order, and the society has unwritten rules that govern how people interact.
References
Christman, J. (2004). Relational autonomy, liberal individualism, and the social constitution of selves. Philosophical Studies, 117(1), 143-164.
Christman, J. (2008). Autonomy in moral and political philosophy. Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy.
Cote, J. E., & Levine, C. G. (2014). Identity, formation, agency, and culture: A social psychological synthesis. Psychology Press.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2014). Toward a psychology of optimal experience (pp. 209-226). Springer Netherlands.
Debord, G., Debord, G., & Knabb, K. (2014). The society of the spectacle.
Fiske, S. T., & Taylor, S. E. (2013). Social cognition: From brains to culture. Sage.
Kendall, D. E. (2015). Sociology in our times. Australia: Wadsworth.
Van den Bos, K. (2009). Making sense of life: The existential self trying to deal with personal uncertainty. Psychological Inquiry, 20(4), 197-217.
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