Negative liberty

individual freedom, and liberty through democracy. Mill and Tocqueville both feared tyranny, and promoted democracy so that citizens could have individual liberties, and thoughts. Mill’s ideal citizen in a democracy would be participatory, and opinionated in their beliefs. His citizen would not curtail any other citizen’s belief, no matter how far off of their beliefs it is. Tocqueville’s ideal citizen would be one who participates at a local level of politics. In On Liberty, John Stuart…

Firstly, Enlightened despots endorsed human rights to create a healthier society. Although many enlightened absolutists supported human rights, one of the monarch’s who notably advocated and increased human rights was Catherine the Great of Russia. Montesquieu and Voltaire greatly influenced her on the subject of the law code. Montesquieu's book, “The Spirit of Laws”, captivated her attention and had a great impact on her view of despotism. Catherine and Voltaire were personally acquainted and…

John Rawls and Karl Marx both see equality as an important value in human society; indeed, they both see it as something people are entitled to and as the foundation upon which the ideal society is built. However, they diverge drastically in how they conceptualize the way an egalitarian society would operate and how they believe such a society could be achieved. Concerning the former, Marx envisioned a communist utopia, whereas Rawls was a strong believer in liberal democracy. In terms of the…

It is hard to define what liberalism truly meant. On the surface, to be liberal was to be progressive, forward thinking, actively championing for civil liberties as well as the freedom of the individual. Dewey himself is of the opinion that the idea of liberalism has been distorted; it has become far too individualistic and lost its meaning. Dewey is against the ‘individualism’ espoused by liberalists’ theories. Choosing instead to subscribe to organic philosophy where the intrinsic…

Rousseau begins his argument on the conception of freedom that goes contradictory to that of Mill. In this sense, he suggests that society must undergo a transformation or transition from the natural state to the civil state society, and that this society may be considered both free and subject to some legitimate form of political authority. Rousseau believes that this political authority is not found in the natural state, which he considers limited only by the power of natural superiority or…

be allowed as long as it does not infringe on a persons right to life, liberty and property. In the following paper I will address why freedom of speech is important and what actually…

bad thing. Regardless of whether it is important or not, it is clear Trump would be chosen by the founders because of the beliefs he shares with the founding fathers. Trump shared the views of supporting the economy and protecting Americans civil liberties and rights. The first reason the founding fathers would vote for Trump is that he believed in people’s rights, which was something that the colonies had been deprived of under England. One thing that the founding fathers…

John Locke is arguably the most influential philosopher in regards to common law as a whole and specifically the development of the American Republic. His opinions on the nature of man and the duties of government lay the groundwork for representative democracy and fight heavily against the concept of divine right of kings. His belief is that people are born with freedom and that any subjection or restrictions should be created as a means to maintain the freedoms of all men instead of enforcing…

Throughout history, many thinkers have developed their own theory on the nature of women and their subjection as some believe women are inferior to men and others, equal. Jean Jacques Rousseau is famous for many of his theories but Emile allows us to capture his honest beliefs that women are subordinate to men as it is natural. John Stuart Mill has taken a different approach by approving equal rights for women in the popular text The Subjection of Women in which he claims there is no proof women…

Everyone defines his own liberty Society is made of individualist, without individualists there would be no society. Going even further, the term society is actually an illusion and the individuals are its reality. Individualist have the choice to come to gather and to form an assemblage. Because society is just an imagination and a fiction it does not exist and individualists’ liberty is limitless. The reason why in every epoch man must seek his freedom not at the beginning but at the end of…