Negative and Positive Liberty

Liberty

• Liberty can be defined as the freedom to do whatever one wants, or the positive power of doing and appreciating the value of one’s work
• In modern politics, liberty is defined as the state of being free within society from control or oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one’s way of life, behaviour, or political views
• The exercise of liberty is contingent on capability and is constrained by the rights of others. Thus, liberty entails using freedom responsibly under the rule of law without depriving anyone else of their freedom
• Liberty has two aspects, i.e., positive and negative

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Negative Liberty and Positive Liberty

• The focus areas of Negative Liberty and Positive Liberty are different
• While positive liberty is concerned with the freedom of an individual within the framework provided by the society, it tends to enable the development of that society
• However, Negative liberty is concerned with the areas of non-interference and domains of life of an individual that must not be violated

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 Negative Liberty:

• Negative liberty is the minimum non-interference area of . It seeks to define and defend a zone of inviolability for the individual
• It is concerned with explaining the concept of “liberty”
• It recognizes that human nature and human dignity require a space where people can act freely
• It explains that to express himself or herself, one requires non-interference and areas where individual liberties are not violated
• Negative liberty, in contrast to positive liberty, is primarily concerned with freedom from external restraint

Positive Liberty: 

• Positive liberty is the ability to act on one’s free will, as opposed to negative liberty, which is freedom from external restraint on one’s actions
• Positive liberty may also refer to freedom from internal constraints
• The idea of ‘freedom to’ is something that positive liberty is concerned about
• Discussions of positive liberty with a long tradition can be traced to Rousseau, Hegel, Marx, Gandhi, Aurobindo, etc
• Positive Liberty considers the nature of the relationship and conditions that exist between the individual and society
• It is also about improving these conditions so that there are very few impediments to the development of the individual personality
• Positive Liberty looks at the nature of the relationship and conditions between the individual and society
• It is also about improving these conditions so that there are very few constraints in the way of the development of the individual personality
• The Benefit of enabling favourable conditions in material, political and social domains is needed for an individual to develop his or her capability
• For example – poverty or unemployment must not be the constraints for a person to have adequate material resources to pursue their wants and needs

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Freedom of Expression: 

• Freedom of expression is a fundamental value, and society must be willing to bear some inconvenience to protect it from those who seek to restrict it
• Freedom of Expression is considered to belong to the minimum area of ‘non-interference’
• John Stuart Mill, a political mastermind in 19th century Britain, offered a passionate defence of freedom of expression, including freedom of thought and discussion
• The four reasons he gives for why there should be the right to express oneself in any case, for those who hold ‘false’ beliefs
• Any idea cannot be entirely false: there is always some truth in what appears to us to be false. If we prohibit ‘false’ ideas, we risk losing elements of truth in them
• Truth never emerges on its own: it emerges as a result of a conflict between opposing viewpoints. At the moment, the ideas that appear to be incorrect may have been valuable in the emergence of what we consider to be correct ideas
• Conflict of ideas is always valuable: truth is always in danger of being reduced to an unthinking cliché. Only after we expose it to various points of view will we be able to trust it
• Associated uncertainties with actual truth: Thoughts that were thought to be false at one point in time often turn out to be correct later on. A society that suppresses all unsuitable ideas today risks losing significant knowledge

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Banning Creative Freedom:

• A distinction is made between ‘negative liberty and positive liberty,’ and we recognize the need for ‘justifiable constraints’, but these have to be supported by proper procedures and important moral arguments
• Freedom granted under the freedom of expression is typically under attack by the people who want to restrict it. Hence, society must be ready to tackle such a possibility
• The long-term prospects of Banning: Once one begins to ban, then one develops a habit of banning
• When constraints are backed by organized social, religious, or cultural authority or by the might of the state, they restrict our freedom in ways that are difficult to fight against

 Liberalism:

• Liberalism has been identified with tolerance as a value in political ideology
• The rights of a person to hold and express his/her opinions and beliefs even when they disagree with them are often defended by liberals
•  Priority is given to individual liberty over values like equality by Liberals
• Since ancient times, liberalism favoured the free market and minimal role to the state
• However, present-day liberalism acknowledges a role for the welfare state and accepts the need for measures to reduce both social and economic inequalities