Embodied Freedom

“Freedom is not the absence of limits, but the art of living within them.” Jean Luc Nancy

Philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy explores how our very being is always already in relation—we are not isolated individuals, but bodies in contact, constantly shaping and being shaped by others and the world. For Nancy, tact is not really just politeness; it’s the sensitive, responsive way we exist alongside one another. It’s how we receive and offer presence without overpowering—how we respect the other’s limit, while acknowledging our own.

He suggests that freedom is not the absence of limits, but the capacity to live meaningfully within them. It’s through constraints—bodies, time, language, difference—that freedom finds form. To be embodied responsibly means recognizing that our actions ripple outward, and our freedom is always entangled with the freedom of others.

We are conditioned by culture, history, and one another, but not trapped. Nancy believes that through attentive relation—tactful presence—we can begin to “solve” how to live together: not by dissolving difference, but by being more singularly aware within a plurality.