Negative liberty is the absence of obstacles, barriers or constraints to an individual agent. You are free insofar as no one is stopping you from doing whatever you might want to do.
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Define positive liberty
Positive liberty is the possibility of acting — or the fact of acting — in such a way as to take control of one's life and realize one's fundamental purposes, within a collective context and assumes that unfreedom can exist with negative liberty.
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Is positive/negative liberty a meaningful distinction?
To an extent. Berlin (1969) argued they were incompatible and conflicting interpretations of the same concept, as the arguments have distinctive liberal and interventionist elements.
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Who advocates negative liberty?
In the classical liberal tradition, Constant, Humboldt, Spencer and Mill argue that the state is not necessarily able to promote the positive freedom of citizens on their behalf.
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Who advocates positive liberty?
Contrarywise, Rousseau, Hegel, Marx and T.H. Green argue that the state can effectively intervene to promote the positive freedom of citizens on their behalf.
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Other cards in this set
Card 2
Front
Define positive liberty
Back
Positive liberty is the possibility of acting — or the fact of acting — in such a way as to take control of one's life and realize one's fundamental purposes, within a collective context and assumes that unfreedom can exist with negative liberty.
Card 3
Front
Is positive/negative liberty a meaningful distinction?
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