Negative liberty

In his seminal work, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, John Locke visits the ideas of power and freedom amongst other fundamental philosophical debates. The primary description of Locke’s views regarding the aforementioned topics is found in Chapter XXI entitled “Of Power”. Locke's language may be difficult to decipher in regards to his criteria for freedom, and the differentiation between freedom and voluntary. In his writing Locke explains what freedom is to him by foremost explaining…

Liberty can be defined as an individual’s power or right to act, think, or speak. We are lucky to grow up in a world where we have just that. We have so many liberties and freedoms where we can express ourselves and ultimately be who we want to be without government interference. Well, not everyone has always been this lucky. When it came to the colonial and new nation time period not every person, of every race, or gender, or religious belief were granted and allowed to experience the same…

It’s Our Right, Not Yours The government controls what is supposed to be individual rights without American citizens being fully aware. As a liberalist, Balko strongly believes individual freedoms should be the center focus of the government. He disagrees that the government is doing a good job of sustaining and encouraging a healthier America. His concerns about these issues point toward the idea of fairness because little things like what we eat affect us all. Balko’s argument is that the…

and the ideas produced by it have evolved over time, so has the ideas of liberty and freedom. Intelligent minds continue to debate the topic, and great philosophers of different ages did the same. Take Niccolo Machiavelli, an atheist man whom used satire to criticize the structure of the Republic of Florence in the Italian Renaissance. Machiavelli stood as one who believed that government stood as the mechanism to ensure liberty in some capacity through the involvement of a republic’s people in…

Mill focuses on the concept of a clear distinction between when the authority of society can limit individuality and when there can be “sovereignty of the individual over himself”; however, he also argues the point that control should be given whenever society and the individual have an interest in a particular part of human life (82). Mill rejects the notion of a social contract, which Locke argues for, but due to the protections provided by society, the citizens owe a return for these benefits…

Both groups, however, were ultimately attempting to preserve liberty – simply disagreeing on the best method to do so. The Federalist approach believed that a…

The War of Politics: Liberals vs Conservatives Democracy in the United States American is made up of two main political parties, republicans and democrats. The common view of each party breaks down to liberals (Democrats) versus conservatives (Republicans) (Wilson & Dilulio, 2005). Instead of both sides working together to create policies for the greater good of the country, it seems that each side would rather dig their heels in the mud and take a stand that the other should be more like them…

In the age of the Internet personal liberty in speech and thought needs to be left with as little amount of censoring as possible. We see this increased call for censorship because as a society, you see a greater intolerance for truths that go against other people’s beliefs. Like John Stuart Mill, I believe that by maximizing personal liberty of speech we will create a greater society because we will all be free to discuss our views and hear the ones against us to further develop ideas and…

Freedom comes with more responsibility and John Stuart Mill discusses the concept of liberty in numerous ways. However, The Harm Principle and freedom of action are two topics of Mill’s substantial opinions regarding to liberty. The Mill's Harm Principle provides individuals with the liberty to express all opinions, and act as one pleases, but unfortunately not enough to maintain a balanced society. Therefore, I disagree with the idea of Harm Principle, due to unable to implement what should be…

Freedom as a concept implies absolute power over one’s self and property. Through the works of philosophers like Thomas Hobbes and Jean Jacques-Rousseau, we have seen different ways of interpreting the role of property and freedom not only in relation to one’s self, but also within a community, and a political society. Hobbes acknowledges the power dynamics in a society that alter the way in which we live and consequently rebel. He understands the mutual relationship of property and freedom as a…