Liberty: All coherence gone?

'Negative' and 'positive' liberty are not distinct types of freedom. They represent distinct points of stress within the one logical matrix. The abstract logical formula for liberty is taken to be 'A is free from x to do y', where 'from x' is taken to implicat...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Critical review of international social and political philosophy 2000-12, Vol.3 (4), p.25-48
Main Author: King, Preston
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Civil Rights
Freedom
Logic
Political Philosophy
Rights
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:'Negative' and 'positive' liberty are not distinct types of freedom. They represent distinct points of stress within the one logical matrix. The abstract logical formula for liberty is taken to be 'A is free from x to do y', where 'from x' is taken to implicate 'to do y', and vice versa. By contrast, concrete cases of freedom ('rights'), such as 'from hunger' or 'to speak', are taken always to contradict other concrete cases, such as property rights or defences against libel, slander, or 'hate speech' more generally. As all rights are expressions of liberty, however mutually contradictory, we cannot appeal to liberty per se as a principle enabling us to mediate between them. Liberty pre-eminent, or indeed alone, seems too brittle to contain the alienation or anomie of modernity. It may now be necessary, philosophically, to decoct the glue of empathy, of friendship and, by extension, equality.
ISSN:1369-8230
1743-8772
DOI:10.1080/13698230008403328