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To What Extent Do Liberals Disagree over Freedom

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To what extent do liberals disagree over freedom? (15) Liberals believe that each human being is an individual who is rational. Therefore implying that each individual should have freedom. However the extent to this freedom causes a divide within liberals, as shown by Isiah Berlin who distinguished between ‘negative’ liberty and ‘positive’ liberty. Liberals disagree over the extent and nature of freedom. ‘Negative’ liberty supported by classic liberals implies that individuals should be free from constraint, free from external restriction and a lack of interference allowing for freedom of choice therefore a need for the rolling back of the state. This firm belief in individualism-as humans are rational, leads to the classic liberal belief that individuals can flourish without state intervention as human beings are self-interested creatures who are self-reliant and therefore create an atomistic society. This freedom supported by classic liberals allows individuals to act as they wish whatever the consequences as the consequences can’t be said to limit freedom (as that would be against their belief of complete freedom) but are bad luck, not caused by the state therefore the objects that interfere with the classic liberals ideas of freedom include state legislations not natural occurrences that can’t be stopped. Therefore they believe in the silence of the laws to ensure freedom. Modern liberals on the other hand who believe in ‘positive’ freedom have a different idea of the concept of freedom. Modern liberals believe that freedom is about self-realisation and self-realisation allows individuals to flourish which in turn is good for society on the whole. Therefore equal opportunity is necessary to ‘be your own master’- Berlin. For equal opportunity to be available there must be no poverty or injustice, modern liberals believe that classic liberals promote

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