In his seminal work, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, John Locke visits the ideas of power and freedom amongst other fundamental philosophical debates. The primary description of Locke’s views regarding the aforementioned topics is found in Chapter XXI entitled “Of Power”. Locke's language may be difficult to decipher in regards to his criteria for freedom, and the differentiation between freedom and voluntary. In his writing Locke explains what freedom is to him by foremost explaining the differentiation between freedom and voluntary. Locke describes voluntary actions by writing “The exercise of power, by directing any particular action or its abstention, is that which we call volition or willing. The abstention of that action, consequent
