1. Positive and negative freedom

2. Isaiah Berlin
 In his influential analysis of freedom he distinguished
between 2 rival concepts – positive freedom and
negative freedom
 This is often portrayed as the distinction between
being ‘free to do something’ and being ‘free from
something’

3. Negative freedom
 Classical liberals believed in negative freedom ie. non
interference – the absence of external constraints upon
the individual
 This conception of freedom is negative in that it leaves
the individual ‘at liberty’ to act as he/she wishes,
whatever the consequences
 Hobbes defined freedom as the ‘silence of the laws’

4. Negative freedom
 Poverty, disadvantage and disease may be regarded as
misfortunes, but from this viewpoint they cannot be
said to limit freedom
 Ideological implications – those who employ freedom
in this negative sense are therefore inclined to support
the minimal state and sympathise with laissez faire
capitalism

5. Negative freedom
 This classical liberal tradition of freedom reflected in
the ideas of the New Right/Thatcherism
 From this approach freedom is expanded by rolling
back the state, encouraging individuals to take greater
responsibility for their own lives and circumstances
 Freedom of choice in the market place

6. Evaluation
 Promotes a ‘survival of the fittest system’ which may
undermine equality of opportunity and social justice
 Council house sales, tax cuts and reduction of state
benefits will broaden the realm of liberty
 Critics – this conception of freedom may simply
legitimise greed and grant the weak nothing more
than the ‘freedom to starve’

7. Positive freedom
 Flaws of negative freedom led modern liberals to
redefine freedom, in order to remain true to core
liberal principles and values
 Concerned with the opportunities available to
individuals to realise their true potential
 Freedom ultimately means being free from the social
evils that can blight human existence as identified in
the Beveridge Report – want, disease............................

8. Positive freedom
 It recognises social disadvantage (not just law and
physical restraint) as an enemy of freedom
 Positive freedom suggest that liberty can be expanded
by welfarism and economic intervention
 Comes close to identifying freedom with equality of
opportunity

9. Evaluation
 Critics – classical liberals and New Right – this
principle is linked to the growth of the ‘nanny state’- it
allows our interests to be defined for us and so robs us
of responsibility for our own lives
 Positive freedom links closely to socialists and Marx –
self fulfilment, human potential