Liberty Flashcards
Berlin
Two Concepts of Liberty
Favors negative liberty over the positive because the positive is more likely to be used as justification for totalitarianism .
Says that limits on freedom are defined as humans intefering. Economic forces are only limiting on freedom if they are specific arrangements disfavouring one individual
What is negative liberty?
Negative liberty is concerned with an area of non-interference
What is positive liberty?
Positive liberty is concerned with having control over yourself to direct your life in the way you best see fit
Why is the negative/positive distinction not helpful?
Every liberty includes the power of X being free from Y to do Z (Charles Taylor)
Example: Homeless have nowhere to go and hence cannot access a space of non-inteference (negative freedom) and hence do not have the right to direct their lives how they may choose (positive freedom)
Cohen
Against Berlin’s ideas on money. Money is not a thing but in the society we have built is a proxy for determining how much people can interfere with you.
Adrent
The state vs. individual dichotomy incorrect.
Freedom is action and politics provides a space in which to act
Taylor
What’s wrong with negative liberty?
Negative freedom must move from the definition of “doing what one wants” to “doing what one really wants” which requires a judgement of alues
Think of women in a patriachy (xav’s example)
