The Autonomy of Choice and the Problem of Freedom in the Digital Age

Abstract

The article examines the problem of human freedom of choice in the context of a digitalized society, where algorithmic systems are gradually penetrating almost every sphere of information, consumption, communication, and everyday decision-making. Particular attention is paid to the paradoxical nature of freedom in the contemporary world: on the one hand, individuals have access to an unprecedented range of choices, while on the other, they have increasingly less control over the informational and social conditions within which their preferences and decisions are formed. Within this context, the article analyzes classical philosophical understandings of freedom and autonomy, as well as the concepts of “choice architecture,” the “filter bubble,” and “surveillance capitalism.” By bringing together the approaches of J. S. Mill, I. Berlin, M. Foucault, E. Pariser, S. Zuboff, and other scholars, the article argues that algorithmic systems do not necessarily restrict freedom through direct coercion. Rather, hidden forms of constraint may emerge when algorithms invisibly shape the environment in which choices are made, determine the flow of information, predict human behavior, and, in some cases, seek to influence and modify it. This gives rise to a paradox of freedom: individuals may feel more free precisely at the moment when the conditions shaping their choices become less transparent.