The will, as a thing-in-itself, is free, because it is not subject to the principle of reason, and consequently it is not determined by motives. But its phenomena, the acts, are rigorously necessary, because each of them, under the action of the motive, is the infallible consequence of the individual's character. In all men, indeed, the character is individual, but it is empirically given, and it is immutable. That is why the maxim: \u00ab Operari sequitur esse \u00bb (action follows being) is true of everything that exists in nature, and consequently of man. Action necessarily follows being, and being is the character; but being itself is not subject to the principle of reason, it is free. Freedom, indeed, belongs only to being, and not to action. This is what is expressed by the distinction between free will and the freedom of the will. Free will is a contradiction in terms, because it signifies a will that would be indifferent with regard to motives, that is to say, that would be without cause, which is impossible. The freedom of the will, on the contrary, signifies that the will, as a thing-in-itself, is not subject to necessity; it is the source of every phenomenon, but it does not manifest itself in the phenomenon. The phenomenon, on the contrary, is entirely determined by the law of causality. Thus, freedom is not in the world of phenomena; it is beyond. This is what Kant's doctrine has brought to light, and this is what I develop here. Man, as a phenomenon, is subject to necessity; but as a thing-in-itself, he is free. This freedom, he knows it only through self-consciousness, insofar as he perceives himself as will, and not as a phenomenon. However, he cannot act otherwise than he acts, because his action is the necessary consequence of his character and of the motives. But he feels responsible for his action, because he knows that he is the author of his character. Indeed, man's character is his work, because it is the manifestation of his intelligible will. The will, in its essence, is free; but once it has determined itself to a character, actions necessarily follow. That is why repentance is possible, because it is the feeling of the contradiction between the will and the action, but it does not change the character. The character is immutable, but knowledge can become enlightened, and thus the will can turn toward other objects. True moral freedom therefore consists in the knowledge of the will, and in the possibility of denying it, through asceticism and renunciation. For the will, in knowing itself, can turn away from life, and thus free itself from pain and suffering. This is the meaning of the doctrine of the saints and mystics. The will, indeed, is the foundation of all being, and the source of all suffering. As long as man follows his will, he is a prey to desire, anxiety, pain. But if he succeeds in denying his will, he attains peace and serenity. This negation of the will is the goal of life, and it is true salvation. That is why the morality of compassion, which consists in recognizing in others the same being as oneself, is the first step toward the negation of the will. Compassion, indeed, leads not to make others suffer, and to help them. But this is only a degree. The supreme degree is complete self-renunciation, asceticism, which goes as far as the mortification of the flesh. It is thus that man becomes free, no longer in the world, but out of the world. For freedom, in reality, is not in the world, but is the very essence of the will, which, by denying itself, transcends itself. Such is the doctrine of liberation, as it has been taught by the sages of India and the Christian mystics. And that is why life is only a long suffering, but death is not the end, for the will is constantly reborn. The only means of escaping this cycle is to deny the will, to detach oneself from all desire. Then man attains nothingness, but this nothingness is the opposite of the world of phenomena; it is absolute rest, eternal peace. This is what the mystics call union with God, or nirvana. And it is the final goal of all wisdom.