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The nature of freedom
The nature of freedom
Discuss John Locke's views about the liberty of the individual
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Freedom can be viewed in a negative or positive light. For Locke, freedom is a good and natural characteristic of people that is defined through labor. He classifies it into two categories: natural liberty and social liberty. Natural liberty is a key component of society that designates rights to people that the commonwealth cannot take away and that everyone is subject to. In a state of nature, natural liberties give citizens the right to cause harm to another if their own preservation is in harm’s way. Whereas social liberty is a governing agreement established by consent between the commonwealth and the people that protects citizens from others inflicting unjust harm on another. Locke associates liberty with private property in that
This section sets out the idea that freedom means not being under the control of another man and having the authority and power to do what one wishes with their lives and property. This concept of personal freedom that Locke stresses is often referred to as negative freedom. Section six then asserts that this is of course within reason and that personal freedom is constrained by the obligation to the laws of nature.
John Locke strongly believed in more rights for the people and was against oppression. In his book, Second Treatise on Civil Government, Locke stated, “(W)e must consider, what state all men are naturally in, and that is, a state of perfect freedom to order their actions, and dispose [manage] of their possessions. . .” (Document A). Locke means every man is naturally equal, no one was created better and he has certain guaranteed rights. This helps society because it would deny a monarch to strip a person of their guaranteed rights and it would make the monarch less powerful and his/her power would be given to the people.
John Locke was an English philosopher who lived during 1632-1704. In political theory he was equally influential. Contradicting Hobbes, Locke maintained that the original state of nature was happy and characterized by reason and tolerance; all human beings were equal and free to pursue "life, health, liberty, and possessions." The state formed by the social contract was guided by the natural law, which guaranteed those inalienable rights. He set down the policy of checks and balances later followed in the U.S. Constitution; formulated the doctrine that revolution in some circumstances is not only a right but an obligation; and argued for broad religious freedom.
John Stuart Mill defines liberty in relation to three spheres; each successive sphere progressively encompasses and defines more elements relating to political society.... ... middle of paper ... ... Locke’s views simply stem from his faith in man and his potential to succeed independently, which collectively promotes the prosperity of the state. Mill does not implicitly trust or distrust man and therefore does not explicitly limit freedom, in fact he does define freedom in very liberal terms, however he does leave the potential for unlimited intervention into the personal freedoms of the individual by the state.
According to John Locke everyone has natural rights. John Locke came up with natural rights, by thinking about what they could be for a long and vigorous time. Locke said that natural rights are “life, health, liberty, and possessions” (9). Life is something that no one can take away from anyone. Locke said, “no ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possession” (9). Life is not an absolute right. An example of this is if there was a train full of ten thousand people about to hit a rock, and you are by the switch that could save the ten thousand people, but if you use the switch you are killing a twelve-year-old girl on the other track. Liberty is doing what ever someone wants to do, and they can’t be punished for
John Locke is known as the “Father of Classical Liberalism” and is said to be one of the most influential philosophers. Locke believed that all humans are born with natural rights and had the right to protect their “Life, liberty, health and possessions”. Locke also believed that we have the right to overthrow our government if we didn’t like it or got tired of it and he wanted a limited
Locke believed that the role of the government was to protect property and resolve disputes through administrative justice or by creating legislation. The government would be created through the consent of the people. Locke believed that freedom in the state was “having the liberty to order and use your property and to be free from the arbitrary will of another.” No one person can claim divine right to rule, because there is no way to determine if that person is actually divine or not. If government is not fulfilling their duty, the people have a right to overthrow it (i.e. revolution; was a major influence for American revolutionaries). For Locke, law is enlightening and liberating to humans. “law manifests what’s good for everybody.” The key reason for political society is for men to improve land. Locke believes men have mutual interest in coming together to protect land. Men must enter an agreement because there are a few bad apples, though not everyone is bad. If these few apples can be dealt with, their impact can be
Locke’s viewpoint towards human nature is more optimistic and positive as it highlights the individual as he views humans as being rational and with reason. He believes that humans are bound by natural laws that keep each other from harming one another. Thus, no human is better or higher in status than another and are equal thus attaining perfect freedom as all men are created equally. Humans are by nature born free as Locke states that “man being born, as has been proved, with a title to perfect freedom” and also with “an uncontrolled enjoyment of all the rights and privileges of the law of nature, equally with any other man” has the power to preserve his “property, life, liberty and estate” (Locke, Section 87). Locke believes in the state of nature that “has a law of nature to govern it, which obliges every one: and reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind, who will but consult it, that being equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions” (Lock...
What John Locke was concerned about was the lack of limitations on the sovereign authority. During Locke’s time the world was surrounded by the monarch’s constitutional violations of liberty toward the end of the seventeenth century. He believed that people in their natural state enjoy certain natural, inalienable rights, particularly those to life, liberty and property. Locke described a kind of social contract whereby any number of people, who are able to abide by the majority rule, unanimously unite to affect their common purposes. The...
The idea of freedom, that America, founded its principles on, has not always successfully held up. Undoubtedly when our country first started, we had the idea in mind, that our constitution would protect the needs of its people, even as those needs alter; therefore it’s wording needed to be, ductile and interpretive. In recent years, this plasticity has become functional and fair, yet in the past, politicians used it to give and revoke, power, to and from people. Prior to the civil war, though it helped spark many of the social/civil revolution we know today, liberty and freedom were a luxury enjoyed by a few people. Woman, non-whites, and low-income people had their liberties denied, questioned or altogether abolished. However these same groups
Locke states that in order for a civil society to be established, the individuals must forfeit some of their rights that they have in the state of nature. This needs to be done so everyone can live together in peace.
Locke and Mill understanding or freedom are very related to the social and cultural condition in their ages. Locke and Mill lie separated by almost two centuries of English history, and every society that come from different historical background despite the similar region have their own unique problems that needed different treatement and solution. In this sense, Locke and Mill understanding of liberty cannot be divorced from the society they live in, because their works were an attempt to find solutions for the society problem at their time.
We can say that Locke conceived all the natural rights as things which an individual brings with him from birth, and consequently as indefeasible or inviolable claims upon both society and government. Such claims can never be justly set aside, since society itself exists to protect them; they can be regulated only to the extent that is necessary to give them effective protection. In other words, the “life, liberty and estate” of one person can be limited only to make effective the equally valid claims of another person to the same right.
The Great Concept of American Freedom Early America was a place for anyone to live their life the way that they wanted, as it is now, but back then this was a new concept. Much of this idea comes from the freedoms obtained by living here. Many other countries in the world had many freedoms, but not as numerous as they were in America shortly after the country was founded. Americans during the late 1700's and early 1800's embraced their freedoms and became leaders and expanders, and what we now consider the founders of many present-day cities and towns. One thing that has been present throughout the generations of people living in America, is the desire to set themselves apart from other nations.
Negative and positive liberty are best understood as distinct values within Berlin’s own scheme of value pluralism. While an increase in either is desirable, ceteris paribus, attempting to maximize any single idea of liberty without regard to any other values necessarily entails absurd and clearly undesirable conclusions; any sensible idea of jointly maximizing freedom in general, therefore, must acknowledge the tradeoffs inherent in increasing one aspect of freedom or another. The tension here is akin to the familiar tradeoff between equity and efficiency concerns in economics; negative and positive freedom are not diametrically opposed, but the two ideals may not be individually maximized at the same time.