Positive liberty

Of course, all liberals understand that the privileges of freedom are not unrestricted. A major restriction on the freedom of the individual is that using it should not interfere with the freedom of other individuals. I however, don’t this this is not a controversial restriction. I think the real restriction might come from the idea that although the lack of external coercion is accepted as necessary for freedom, coercion may also be internal. If individuals are affected by compulsion, addiction…

He believes that a commonwealth should protect our natural rights such as life and liberty. Therefore, a common misconception could be that because the liberty of thought and expression is a liberty Locke would support protecting free speech, or opinion. However, once you begin to look deeper into Locke’s political philosophy you can see that he would not be as supportive as Mill on the…

fit. For Sandel, the civic virtues that are essential to democracy’s survival require constant and continuous discussion in the public sphere. However, in the second half of the twentieth century we see a shift in one’s intentions. Sandel claims, “Liberty depended no on cultivating virtue, but rather on placing certain rights beyond the reach of majorities”…

In the United States, the majority of the media and political candidates are either liberal or conservative in nature. The Democratic Party and news channels such as, MSNBC represent the liberal side of American Politics. On the other hand, the Republican Party and news channels such as, Fox News support the conservative side of American politics. Furthermore, the Republican and Democratic Parties are the two largest political parties in the United States. By looking at the parties’ beliefs,…

Property is a complex bundle of rights. One of the significant concepts of property rights, is the right to exclude from your own property. This produces a series of complications. The overall goal is to make the individuals (around you and in future generations) better off without destroying the environment. Does denying people the right to use your property really make them better off? This is a difficult question to answer considering it is extremely situational. Helping an individual by…

In On Liberty, Mill (1859, p. 60-61) offers four reasons as to why freedom of speech is essential; to deny the opinion of another is to assume that our views are never erroneous; sometimes an opinion may only be somewhat true, therefore free discussion is required…

John Locke proposes a view of freewill best characterized as compatiblism. The view he presents focuses heavily on the necessity of both liberty and motivation in true freedom. Ultimately, this view resembles libertarianism, but differs by elaborating on why people choose one decision over another. In traditional libertarianism individuals are free agents that make their own choices. As long as an individual’s ability to make choices is not restricted he is considered free. Locke disagrees…

In defense of his harm principle, Mill delineates between harm to one’s self and harm to society; harm to one’s self cannot be legitimately condemned and is simply an inconvenience that society can handle for the sake of the greater good, while harm to society includes all actions that violate a specific duty to the public and intentionally inflict damage on others. Mill’s harm principle establishes a sphere in which social control should not be exercised. This sphere encompasses an individual’s…

John Locke was a political philosopher and social psychologist, often called the “Father of Liberalism”. He believed the right to government depended upon the people. He also claimed the natural right of man were the right to life, liberty, and property. Locke believed in religious freedom as well. He believed in an idea called “state of nature”. “State of nature” means all men are allowed to “order their actions, and dispose of their possessions and persons, as they think fit, within the bounds…

I am not convinced that Locke really thinks that the legislature is the supreme power. I believe that Locke thinks the executive is the supreme power. Locke begins off in chapter 14 by perceiving that, in any thoughtful society, circumstances will emerge that must be managed before the administrative can be amassed to give laws to them. In these cases, the executive may practice official right, or essentially "good judgment." The official is qualified to take activities that are outside the…