AIM Framework glossary
Freedom
Canonical definition
Freedom, in AIM terms, is the state in which intrinsic motivation can reliably lead action while appetites are adequately regulated and mimetic pressures are recognised and bounded, so that life choices are not dictated by deprivation or status panic (Normative Principle).
Explanation
A person is free, on this account, when self-endorsed projects are actually able to guide what they do, because their basic needs are secure enough not to hijack them and social pressures are strong enough to inform, but not to coerce. Freedom is not the absence of all constraint; it is the presence of conditions under which the AIM profile is stably I-led rather than A- or M-dominated.
Epistemic status
Framework-Specific Construct (normative).