Positive liberty

Under libertarianism, the greatest threat to an individual comes from the limitations set up by the government. Libertarians believe that certain laws restrict and invade people’s rights. In, “Anarchy, State and Utopia” by Robert Nozick, he developed a libertarian political philosophy called the entitlement theory. Here he argued that the minimal state, a state that is limited to the enforcement of contracts and the protection of individuals, is the only state that can be justified, and anything…

The tenet that I would like to discuss in this Conceptual Response is ‘Liberal Wars have a distinct relationship to territory insomuch as spatiality is firmly bound to active living space’ (Evans, 2011, p.750-751). Liberalism, understanding by most people, is the ideology based on the ideas of equality and freedom. However, in ‘The Liberal War Thesis’, the author Brad Evans illustrates that liberalism is not simply a set of principles, but ‘a regime of power that wages the destiny of the…

Mill's philosophy of individual liberty places limitations on the freedom that allows human beings to form opinions and express such views without restrictions or prejudice. He explicitly professes his belief in autonomy unless a person indicates a motive that places others in danger and asserts that people are well aware that actions shouldn't be as free as opinions1. Consequently, opinions lose protection, when the circumstances and the manner in which they are expressed in constitute an…

Does Locke's concern with protection of property as one of the central purposes of civil society contradict his work in defense of universal human right. John Locke was an English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. “The Bible is one of the greatest blessings bestowed by God on the children of men. It has God for its author; salvation for its end, and truth without any mixture for its matter,” John Locke. John Locke influenced the…

Prior to the Enlightenment the majority of European countries were under the rule of monarchies and countrymen had very little say on how their lives were spent. However, thinkers like John Locke began to challenge traditional governments and to inspire people to view themselves as key players in the world they lived in. In his treatise “Of Civil Government”, Lock describes man as “the absolute lord of his own person and possessions, equal to the greatest and subject to nobody” (Fiero, 101).…

“The earth and all that is therein is given to men for the support and comfort of their being” (Locke, 1823, p. 115, para. 25). He theorized, in Chapter 1, “…that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty or possessions…”(Locke, 1823, p. 107, para. 6), as such, he was aware that if everything is the common property of man, there was a need for a morally right method of determining ownership of God's “gifts” without causing conflict. Locke’s…

don’t care much for political talk on TV or the radio. But after taking the test and being tossed into the liberal box I now realize that I believe in a lot of the things that liberals do. Their main focuses are promoting equality and individual liberties while supporting government in handling violence and help for the disadvantaged. Basically they like the idea of people getting to express themselves how they want and government helping the disadvantaged and controlling violence. The lack of…

same rights elevate the collective good of a society as a whole? Although seemingly paradoxical in nature, the “enforcement of restraints”(7) complements John Stuart Mill’s major principles of moral human behavior, in such a way that the balance of liberty versus authority shifts in a direction favorable to human progression. In essence, a liberal society is one in which the will of the people is safeguarded by the larger powers at hand; with limitations placed conservatively so as not to…

John Locke, a notable English philosopher has extensively written topics on human understanding and political government. However, John Locke was most significantly known for his book; Some Thoughts Concerning Education, which presents his theory on education and child development. In his book, Locke emphasizes moral education which stresses the importance of educating children by instilling values in them. He believes that the goal of education is not to create a scholar, instead a virtuous man…

O Centro Espirita Beneficente Uniao do Vegeta l , 546 U.S. 418 (2006). The government argued for the restriction of hoasca under the supposition that the ban of the drug would “…[protect] the health and safety of the Uniao Do Vegetal members, [and prevent] the diversion of hoasca from the church to recreational users…” (court case). According to Mill such an argument is based on restricting behavior prior to action. There is no certainty that the Uniao Do Vegetal, nor any individual in…