Social&PoliticalPhilosophy:LibertyandRights Whatisliberty? whatarerights? whatrightsandlibertiesdowehave? A:WhatisLiberty? BenjaminConstant:(1820) libertiesoftheancientsvslibertiesofthemoderns ancient:amatterofparticipationinthecollectivepoliticallife modern:peacefulindependence Modernliberties: righttobesubjectedonlytothelaws nottobedetained,arrested,orputtodeathbythearbitrarywillofindividuals righttofreespeechtoexpressone'sopinion righttochooseaprofessionandpracticeit righttoproperty:touseitandevenabuseit righttocomeandgowithoutpermission righttofreeassociation righttoreligiousbelief righttoexercisesomeinfluenceontheadministrationofgovernment AncientLiberty: participationincollectivelife deliberatinginpublicsquare buttheysawthisascompatiblewiththecomplete subjectionoftheindividualtotheauthorityofthecommunity wemodernscannolongerenjoythelibertyoftheancients masssocietydoesnotallowindividualtoperceivetheirinfluence thusmodernsareattachedtoindividualindependence securityinprivatepleasures individuallibertyismodernliberty politicallibertyistheguaranteeorindividualliberty modernlibertythreatenedbyadifferentdangerthanancientliberty dangerofancientlibertywasthatmenmight attachtoolittlevaluetoindividualrights dangerofmodernliberty inenjoyingourprivateliberties wesurrendertooeasilyourrighttoshareinpoliticalpower Constantisexhortingusnottobecontentwithmereprivateliberties acalltopoliticalinvolvement ***
Social&PoliticalPhilosophy:LibertyandRights IsaiahBerlin(1969): negativeliberty:non interference,beingleftalone positiveliberty:achievingaformofself mastery warnsofthedangersofpositiveliberty "beingforcedtobefree" beginswithexplanationofnegativeliberty politicallibertyistheareawithwhichamancanactunobstructedbyothers classicalenglishpoliticalphilosophers disagreedonhowwidetheareacouldorshouldbe butagreeditcouldnotbeunlimited areaoflibertymustbelimitedbylaw Locke,Mill,Constant,Tocqueville allagreedthereoughttobeacertainminimumareofpersonalfreedom whichonnoaccountmustbeviolated thusneedaboundarybetweenpublicauthorityandprivatelife(righttoprivacy) equalityoflibertyisthefoundationofliberalmorality conscienceofwesternliberalsistroubled notbythefactthatthefreedommenseek differsaccordingtosocialoreconomicconditions butbythefactthatthosewhopossessfreedom mayhavegaineditbyexploitingthevastmajoritywhodonot libertyinthissenseisprincipallyconcernedwiththeareaofcontrolnotitssource ademocracymightdepriveindividualsofmanyliberties andadespotmayallowhissubjectsalargemeasureofpersonalfreedom thusnonecessaryconnectionbetweendemocracyandindividualliberty positiveliberty derivesfromthewishtobeone'sownmaster vsnegativeliberty: thefreedomfrombeingpreventedfromchoosingasidobyothers thesenotionsoflibertydevelopedindivergentdirections andeventuallycameintodirectconflict positivelibertyhistoricallyusedtocoercemeninthenameofsomegoal coercingothersfortheirownsake ThusBerlinemphasizesonemustsidewithnegativeliberty whenitcomesinconflictwithpositiveliberty ***
Social&PoliticalPhilosophy:LibertyandRights CharlesTaylor negativelibertyinadequate cannotavoidvaluingpositivefreedom freedomcan'tjustbetheabsenceofexternalconstraints citestheexamplesofcharlesmansonandandreasbaader toillustratethisdanger bothindividualshadastrongsenseofsomepurposesandgoals asbeingmorefundamentalthanothers yettheywereterriblyconfused intheseextremecaseswerecognize thatmanyofusmaysuffertoalesserdegreefromthesameconfusion thusmustvaluepositiveliberty *** RonaldDworkin: wemayhaverightstomanyparticularliberties butcannotdefendthenotionofarighttolibertyingeneral beginswithjefferson:righttolife,libertyandthepursuitofhappiness sincejeffersontherighttolibertyhasreceivedmoreemphasisthantheothertwo consensusinfavorthatthereissomerighttolibertyisvast butmistaken analysisofwhatwemeanbya"right" weaksense:arightasawish,anexpressionofwant strongsense:ifsomeonehasarighttosomething thenitiswrongforthegovernmenttodenyit thisistheonlysenseinwhicha"righttoliberty"wouldmeanverymuch butthenitseemswiththissenseofright thentherecannotbeageneralrighttoliberty usesexample:ifiwanttodriveuplexingtonave butthegovernmentdecidestomakeitaonewaystreet thenitdoesn'tmakesense thatihavethe"right"tothelibertyofdrivinguplexingtonave. ideaofarighttolibertyisamisconception adversetopolitcalthoughtintwoways: 1)createsafalsesenseofanecessaryconflict betweenlibertyandothervalues 2)providesatooeasyanswerforwhyweregard certainkindsofrestraints,liketherestraintonfreespeech asespeciallyunjust
Social&PoliticalPhilosophy:LibertyandRights B:LawandMorality twofamousexchangesonrelationbetweenlibertyandthelaw J.S.MillvsJamesFitzjamesStephen J.S.Mill:the'onesimpleprinciple' theonlyjustificationforinterferingwiththelibertyofanother istopreventthatpersonfromharminganother Stephenseesappallingconsequencesinsuchaprinciple PatrickDevlinvsH.L.A.Hart Devlin: onefunctionoflawistoupholdcommonmoralstandards evenatsomecosttoliberty Hart: moralstandardsshift suchchangecanbegood thusthelibertytochallengeacceptedstandardsofmoralityisnecessary C.TolerationandFreeExpression oneoftheprimaryliberalvirtuesistoleration JohnLocke: statehasnorighttointeferewithreligiousbelief andisunabletoanyway ThomasScanlon: statemustrecognizetherightstofreeexpression forthesourceofthestate'spower dependsupontheautonomyoftheindividual whichrequiresfreeexpression notalwaysclearwhatexceedstheboundsoflegitimateexpression JeremyWaldron: considerstherushdieaffair CatherineMackinnon: completefreedomofspeech canundermineequality D.VirtueandCitizenship Whataretherequirementsofcitizenship? Islibertymerelybeingleftalonetodowhatonewants?
Social&PoliticalPhilosophy:LibertyandRights ordoesitrequireengagementinpubliclife ancientlibertyandpositiveliberty Pericles freepersonmustalsobeanactivecitizen Aristotle possibletobeagoodcitizenbutnotagoodman Machiavelli decriesthemodernweaknesscomparedtotheancients DeTocqueville newformsofservitudehavereplaceddespotismandtyranny QuentinSkinner E.Rights thenatureandscopeofrights manytakeforgrantedtherearerights scepticismaboutrights JeremyBentham: caseagainstnaturalrights:'nonsenseonstilts' KarlMarx: rightsofmanproclaimedinthedeclarationoftherightsofmanandcitizen aremerelyaprotectionforindividualegoism twocontemporariesreassertthecaseforrights RobertNozick: rightsas"sideconstraints" nottobebalancedagainstotherfactorsinmoraldecisionmaking RonaldDworkin: connectsnotionofarighttotheideasofdignityandequality F.Punishment Whenisitpermissibletotreatpeopleinawaythatwouldnormally beconsideredaviolationoftheirrights? mostobviousexampleispunishment howispunishmentjustified? J.S.Mill: arguesinfavorofcapitalpunishmentonthetwingrounds
Social&PoliticalPhilosophy:LibertyandRights ofdeterrenceandhumanitytothecriminal H.L.A.Hart: deterrenceandrepsonsibility RobertNozick againstdeterrencetheoriesinfavourofretribution