Q&A 10, First Answer

The basic form of my question is: Are humans born with radical freedom, or do they develop this ability with age?

Early Sartre would probably suggest the former.  Later Sartre, however, might agree more with the latter.  I think he would likely say that humans should work towards achieving radical freedom, and that this effort will likely be a lifelong project.  Initially, humans are entirely dependent upon others to make their choices for them; later on, they become gradually more autonomous, until they are relatively free of others' influences.

My own viewpoint on this issue is virtually inapplicable, as I do not think that humans ever have radical freedom, both because I think that the universe is in fact predetermined and because I do not think that (even given the existence of free will) humans could ever be sufficiently free of outside influence as to be radically free.

A Quite Problematic Idea

The idea that we choose our emotions, in addition to being almost obviously inaccurate, is problematic in that can easily lead to a 'blame the victim' mentality.  Frankly, the idea of radical freedom in general can lead to this mentality, although it seems most apparent to me in relation to emotions.  If one believes that individuals can choose their emotions, then two morally debatable conclusions result: firstly, that one is free to emotionally attack someone as much as one wants, because one's target can simply choose to completely ignore one's actions, and secondly, that people who are emotionally distressed (for example, people who are depressed due to poverty, abuse, or other external circumstances) are simply choosing to feel that way, and as such one is not obligated (or even encouraged) to assist them.  Some people do actually seem to believe something along these lines; such people typically tell others who are depressed to 'cheer up' or 'get over it,' tell justifiably angry people to 'just let it go,' and assume that those who do not share their appreciation for certain things (for example, works of art) are simply being stubborn.  In most cases, this sort of behaviour actually makes others feel worse rather than better, and dislike things (i.e. works of art) even more than they already do, out of resentment of the other person's annoying attitude.