Negative Liberty

2.5.1 The Notion of Negative Liberty In the opening lines of this section Berlin indicates: “I am normally said to be free to the degree to which no man or body of men interferes with my activity.” Negative liberty is the fulcrum of most defenses given to liberal-democratic constitutions. Freedoms of expression, religion, movement and association are characteristically some examples of civil liberties. Significantly, most of the classical English philosophers such as Locke, Hobbes and Mill are considered to be staunch proponents of negative liberty but interestingly these could not come to a consensus on the demarcation to a person’s area of action. According to Berlin, the classic English philosophers supposed that the area was unlimited.

The deliberate interference of others within my area of action is tantamount to the state of being unfree. A further clarification to this indicates that mere incapacity to something does not suggest in any way a lack of political liberty. In a plausible sense, a person’s inability to run a 100metre race because of lameness cannot be classified as a lack of freedom but a physical or natural weakness. Hence, the key element with respect to limitations, impositions or restrictions on ones freedom is the presence of a human being. The crux of the matter under discussion is that political freedom is an issue of relations of power which hold between individuals and between individuals and the

This notion of liberty is echoed much in the axiom that one’s destiny lies with one’s own hands but not another’s. Further to this, my positive liberty increases to the extent that I make great strides in becoming both aware of the opportunities within my domain and taking advantage of them. Let us consider this instance in which I recognize the relevance of studying to improve my life. However, I often get sidetracked by less significant events such as attending parties and watching movies. The former events of partying and watching movies are short term goals which deter me from focusing on education, a long term goal. My positive freedom develops when my rational side is able to tame and overcome my lower tendency of being sidetracked. In this sense, I become a slave to my baser instincts or desires when I lose control over