Liberty(ed)
Freedom or liberty
Freedom stands as the cornerstone of all liberal values. Early liberals criticized authoritarian governments for making decisions on behalf of individuals and trying to control their actions. However, they acknowledged that freedom cannot be absolute; it must operate within the framework of the law to safeguard everyone's rights from interference. This perspective led early thinker John Locke to assert that the purpose of law is not to limit freedom but to protect and enhance it, emphasizing that without law, freedom cannot exist.
Liberty was a key theme in the early 19th-century philosophy of utilitarianism, championed by Jeremy Bentham. He argued that individuals are best placed to determine their own interests, driven by the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain. Bentham believed the government should only step in when someone's actions threaten the rights of others, promoting a view that people act based on rational self-interest. This philosophy suggested the idea of achieving the greatest happiness for the largest number, which sometimes meant the rights of minority groups could be sidelined by majority interests.
John Stuart Mill emerged as a significant classical liberal thinker in the 19th century. Initially, he followed Bentham's ideas but later criticized the simplistic focus on pleasure and pain. Mill introduced the concept of negative freedom, stating that individuals should face external restrictions only when their actions affect others, not when their choices only impact themselves.
As the 19th century progressed, many liberals found Mill’s idea of liberty too narrow, as it treated society like a group of separate individuals. T.H. Green from Oxford argued that society functions as an interconnected whole, where individuals simultaneously pursue personal and communal interests. This led to the notion of positive freedom, where people can shape their own futures, develop their abilities, and achieve personal fulfillment, suggesting that some level of government intervention is necessary to facilitate this growth.