Liberty in the Modern World

The concept of Liberty has been known for ages but has gained importance in modern times. Liberty ensures a life free from any obstacles. In the words of MacCallum, Liberty deals with a relationship between three terms; it denotes the freedom of an individual ‘A’, from an obstacle ‘x’, to do ‘z’. He further maintained that it is futile to divide the discussion of liberty into three terms such as negative liberty, positive liberty, and freedom from obstacles, as all theorists use it.

Also Read: Political Theory – Growth and Evolution

Rights – Different Theories of Rights

Democracy – Different Forms of Democracy

Meaning and Importance of Liberty

The concept of Liberty has been in use for many ages but it has different meanings in different times. Though liberty is used in many ways, the most common way to use liberty is to imply freedom from any constraints or obstacles. Thus, Liberty means freedom from any obstacles that come in the way of a person when he or she exercises some choice, and hence, an individual is free to choose his course of action without being bothered by external constraints.

Liberty is a necessary condition for the full, balanced, and all-round development of a person because, without it, he or she would not be able to actualize his potential. Liberty provides freedom to act independently, without any fear of retribution or punishment and it may also mean to be able to act according to one’s desires and goals, actualize one’s dream, and realize one’s potential. There are mainly two senses in which liberty is used; negative and positive.

Negative Liberty

Negative liberty means an area in which one can do what he wishes to do without being restricted by others. Hence, Negative liberty implies for minimum possible restriction on liberty. There is no agreement as to what should be the limit to that area. However, there is consensus that absolute freedom does not exist and the area in which he or she has to operate is not unlimited. The laws should ensure that a person should have a certain minimum area of freedom and a limited area of free action.  

However, there are several criticisms of the concept of Negative Liberty. First of all, scholars argued that there is not much weightage in the argument that truth would not come out without liberty. History is replete with such examples, where truth has prevailed even if it was an authoritarian one. Also, negative views of liberty do not take into account the fact that state and law are not always obstacles to liberty.

The negative view of liberty sidelines the fact that the main obstacles to the enjoyment of liberty are poverty disease, ignorance, and socio-economic backwardness. Lack of political and economic are the real obstacle to liberty, not the state.

Positive Liberty

The concept of positive liberty is based on two basic assumptions; freedom of the rational self and the right to participation in the sovereign authority. The idealist like Rosseau believed that men can be controlled only for the realization and fulfillment of this real self and he also propounded the concept of general will in this context. The General will be nothing, but the total ‘goodwill’ of all people living in a society. Thus, a positive view of liberty maintains that man can realize his potential only in society.

However, the concept of positive liberty also faced criticisms as this should not give the state the license to interfere in his life on the grounds of liberty and freedom. Every act of the state is not always meant to enhance the liberty of an individual. One of the most dangerous aspects of positive liberty is that the state justifies its every act on the grounds of freedom and liberty. The general will become a handy tool to justify its tyranny, curtailment of freedom, and other rights.

Thus, civil liberty is the most important part of the political liberty as it ensures equality before law and fair trial.