Every one of us follows some authority, whether we realize it or not.
The real question is not whether we need authority, but what kind of authority deserves to guide us.
Authority is often neglected or even dismissed today. People associate it with power and domination. In our individualistic age, it is often seen as a threat to freedom and individual expression.
However, such an attitude deprives us of one of the fundamental aspects of human life. As a result, we no longer know what to do with our freedom. Faced with countless possibilities, we are left without guidance.
This can become overwhelming and undermine the coherence of our action.
To understand the problem more deeply, we need to examine two kinds of freedom and two kinds of authority.
1. Positive and Negative Freedom
Isaiah Berlin famously distinguished between negative and positive freedom.
Negative freedom is freedom from constraints and interference. For example, a plant may be free from pests or toxins. A human being may be free from interference by others, such as the state.
When we possess negative freedom, we often say that we can do whatever we want.
But how do we know what we want? And how do we know which of our desires are worth following?
Without guidance, we are prone to reacting impulsively to momentary desires. This makes us vulnerable to advertising. Advertisers study these impulses carefully and use this knowledge to shape our desires and influence our decisions as consumers.
However, philosophers also distinguish positive freedom—freedom for something. Here I propose my own interpretation of this concept.
For any living being, including human beings, there are only two general possibilities: growth or decay. Positive freedom is oriented toward growth. It is freedom for development.
A plant is free when it grows under conditions suited to its nature and develops its potential. Similarly, we are truly free only when we develop our own potential and grow as human beings.
I do not underestimate negative freedom. But for me, it has value only as the foundation of positive freedom.
To see what I mean, imagine a state of perfect negative freedom. Everyone can do whatever they want, including killing others. Justice exists only in the form of revenge. Violence governs social life. This would be a state of anarchy.
Such a condition can be compared to a tree growing in toxic soil infested with pests. We would not call this true freedom because the tree cannot fully realize its natural potential. Unable to grow, it begins to decay.
Nevertheless, like all living beings, we are naturally oriented toward growth. Therefore, we create social environments that allow us to develop as human beings, even though those environments may also place limits upon us.
Today, we are primarily attached to the concept of negative freedom. We often perceive positive freedom as a threat to individuality.
This is because positive freedom seems to require an authority that tells us what promotes our development and how it should be pursued. We are suspicious of authority, and we have good historical reasons for being so.
This brings us to the second distinction.
2. Rational and Irrational Authority
Erich Fromm distinguished between two forms of authority.
The first is irrational authority. It is grounded in power that one person exercises over another. Such authority dominates and compels obedience. It is called irrational because it demands no understanding. It demands only submission.
This is the form of authority associated with authoritarianism. This is what we fear. As a result, many people become suspicious of both authority and positive freedom itself.
However, there is also rational authority.
Rational authority is grounded in compassion. By compassion, I mean understanding another living being and its place in the world without projecting our own inner states onto it. Rational authority is built upon this understanding.
I believe this form of authority is described by Laozi in the Daodejing. The sage is guided by the principle of wu-wei, often translated as non-action or effortless action. Laozi writes that the sage does not rule people through force, yet people naturally follow the sage.
In my interpretation, rational authority grants others negative freedom and allows their growth to unfold naturally. But this does not mean doing absolutely nothing. Otherwise, the sage would offer only anarchy.
The sage provides an example worth following. This is how positive freedom becomes possible. To avoid becoming lost among infinite possibilities, people naturally orient themselves toward such an example.
In this way, a mutual relationship emerges. Because people trust the authority of the sage, their development is guided by the ideal the sage embodies. At the same time, the sage protects their growth so they do not lose their direction.
Such a person must ground their actions in compassion: a clear understanding of others and their place in the world.
Seeing clearly, the person recognizes their responsibility. They understand that the growth of others partly depends upon them.
As a result, the sage acts respectfully. They allow and support the growth of others. This is what I call respect.
This is how the model of action developed in previous episodes applies to authority. The Daoist sage acts from zanshin, the state of awareness. Zanshin makes compassion possible. Compassion, in turn, gives rise to responsibility and respect.
3. Why Authority Is Necessary
Now that we know how to recognize genuine authority, let us consider why authority is necessary in the first place.
The clearest example of authority is our parents. We expect them to function as rational authorities. Their role is to support the growth of their children.
If you are fortunate, you encounter genuine rational authority in your parents. If you lack it, however, that does not mean you can thrive without it. On the contrary, whether consciously or unconsciously, you will seek elsewhere what you did not receive.
We must learn how to develop. Yet learning—from language to crafts, ethics, and martial arts—is impossible without authorities.
We rarely learn everything from our parents. We need other people to continue our development.
Even rejecting authority often means unconsciously submitting to another one. That authority may take the form of our own impulses or of prevailing social expectations. This undermines the coherence of our action.
It also leaves us vulnerable to manipulation by those who know how to exploit our desires: advertisers, social media algorithms, and manipulative individuals.
The reason we often reject authority altogether is that we identify it with irrational authority. We assume that authority necessarily threatens freedom.
But in doing so, we throw the baby out with the bathwater.
The need for authority is rooted in our nature. Human development depends upon the guidance of others. To reject all authority is therefore to work against ourselves.
The question is not whether we need authority.
The question is what kind of authority we need.
We need rational authority.
And we must learn to reject the irrational one.
4. Compassion and Authority
I have explained what genuine authority is and why we need it. Now, let us consider it from the perspective of a student.
The first element is compassion. Since it is the practical foundation of the entire system, it deserves careful attention.
Before accepting any authority, a good student first tries to understand the person who stands before them. They seek to understand them as a human being and to see how they relate to the world around them.
As children, we accept our parents as authorities largely through emotional attachment. Therefore, the quality of that relationship depends primarily on the parents themselves.
As we mature, however, we begin to see our parents as human beings. We notice their flaws, their awkwardness, and their psychological patterns. This often leads to disappointment and is one of the roots of adolescent rebellion.
Hopefully, however, we eventually move beyond adolescence. This means developing compassion toward our parents and seeking to understand them and their circumstances more deeply.
We often seek authority to help us overcome these difficulties.
Teenagers commonly seek authority among peers or idols. Some people turn to religious figures. Others seek psychotherapists, mentors, or trusted friends. Many look for authority online without even realizing it.
Whatever form it takes, the same need is at work.
Martial arts teachers also occupy the role of authority. A good student approaches them with compassion, seeking to understand them as human beings.
This is important not only when choosing an instructor. It is crucial for your development. The better you understand your teacher, the better you understand the Way you are following.
The reason is simple: whether you like it or not, you will become more and more like your teacher. Not only in technique, but also in character.
5. Responsibility and Authority
By seeing another person clearly, a good student recognizes both the relationship and the situation they share. In doing so, they recognize that the situation calls for action.
This is what I call responsibility.
In martial arts, responsibility is often easier than compassion because the relationship is relatively formal. There are established customs and expectations. You train, follow instructions, and take part in a shared practice.
However, this is also why it is easy to become a victim of a bad teacher. While you trustingly follow their guidance, they may exploit your lack of understanding.
This is also one reason why understanding your teacher is so important.
The relationship with parents is also structured, but it is far more personal. This makes the situation more complicated.
Our perception of our parents is shaped by years of shared history, disappointments, resentments, and emotional entanglements.
As a result, it can be difficult to recognize what the situation requires of us.
I emphasize these difficulties because I do not wish to pretend that there are simple answers to everything.
Sometimes it is difficult to maintain zanshin. It is difficult to gain distance from our emotions. As a result, it may be difficult to recognize what responsibility requires of us.
6. Responsibility and Respect
Once we recognize our responsibility, the model provides a general principle for action.
We should protect the growth of others—or at least allow them to grow according to their nature.
This is what I call respect.
Unless severe experiences of rejection or trauma have disrupted the relationship, you remain part of your parents’ growth. To act respectfully means supporting that growth.
This may involve cherishing shared memories, because your lives have grown together. It may also involve helping them with everyday concerns.
Martial arts teachers also deserve respect. This means acting appropriately within the relationship: trusting their guidance, training sincerely, and following instructions carefully.
Obviously, your teacher is responsible for your development, but you also contribute to theirs. Through teaching you, they learn about themselves and other people, refine their methods, and so on.
This is why the relationship calls for respect.
Following instruction does not mean blind obedience.
To act respectfully toward both your teacher and yourself, you must consider whether the teaching genuinely supports your development.
Sometimes it means offering honest feedback about your progress.
And if you eventually recognize that your teacher no longer supports your development, respect may even require finding a different one.
7. Integration of the System
We can now fully integrate the structure of correct action with the concept of authority.
As always, zanshin forms the foundation. Whether you are a teacher or a student, you must be aware of who stands before you. Part of zanshin is readiness to act.
Compassion grows out of zanshin. Because you exist within a shared relationship, you must see one another as living beings striving to grow according to their nature—like trees trying to take root in stony ground.
Responsibility grows out of compassion. Once you see one another clearly and understand the situation, you recognize that the situation calls for action.
Finally, respect grows out of responsibility. To act respectfully is to support one another’s growth.
This is how rational authority operates. Although it does not compel obedience, people follow it naturally. They do so because they recognize that it embodies an ideal worthy of pursuit.
It does not force people to act against themselves.
Instead, it creates the conditions in which growth becomes possible.
Such authority is not dominant.
It is competent.
It is compassionate.
And it creates the conditions in which others can grow.
Outro
This was the Budo Mind Podcast.
In this episode, I explored the concept of authority.
I explained the distinction between positive and negative freedom, as well as between rational and irrational authority.
I argued that the need for authority is rooted in human nature, and that our contemporary suspicion of authority arises from confusing all authority with its irrational form.
I also showed how the structure of correct action applies to authority.
True authority is rational authority.
It acts through the same structure as every form of correct action.
Zanshin is the foundation. Genuine authority begins with attention.
Compassion means seeing you clearly as a living being capable of growth.
Responsibility means recognizing what the situation calls for.
Respect means protecting and supporting your growth according to your nature.
This is how rational authority operates.
It does not dominate you.
It supports your growth.
