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POLITICAL THEORY: FREEDOM


What is Freedom?


  • Freedom is absence of external constraints on individual, ability of people to freely express themselves and develop their potential, ability of people to make independent decisions and act in an autonomous way, ability of people to freely express themselves and develop their potential.
  • Freedom is the condition in which people can develop their creativity, capabilities and talent. Freedom allows one to make choices and to exercise one’s judgement. It permits the exercise of the individual’s powers of reason and judgement.
  • In political theory freedom is the principle by which we can distinguish between socially necessary constraints and other restrictions.

Relation between the Freedom & the Society

  • Freedom in a society enables all its members to develop their potential with the minimum of social constraints.
  • As the desire of people to be in control of their own lives and destinies and to have the opportunity to express themselves freely through their choices and activities. Therefore, not just individuals but societies also value their independence and wish to protect their culture and future.
  • Further, freedom in a society enables individuals, groups, communities or nations the ability to charter their own destiny and be what they wish to be i.e. it allows the full development of the individual’s creativity, sensibilities and capabilities: be it in sports, science, art, music or exploration.

Constraints / Limitations on Freedom

  • The debate on possible limitations on freedom which may result from the social and economic structures of a society always continues.
  • One cannot expect total absence of any kind of constraints or restrictions on freedom.
  • However, the social constraints which are justified and acceptable and which are not and should be removed needs to be determined.
  • Which are the necessary social constraints and which are not can be found through examination of the relationship between individual and society (or group, community or state).
  • This will provide the necessary constraints of the society that allow the individual, the freedom to choose, decide or act, and also the constraints which do not.

Why do we need Constraints?

  • In a society there may exist differences over view/ideas/opinion of the people also they may have conflicting ambition or fighting each other for scarce resources etc. So some mechanisms are needed to control such violence and settling disputes. Therefore constraints are necessary.

 What are the Sources of the Constraints?

  • Restrictions on the freedom of individuals may be imposed by force, by a government through laws which embody the power of the rulers over the people and which may have the backing of force.
  • The constraints on freedom can also result from social inequality of the kind implicit in the caste system, or which result from extreme economic inequality in a society.
  • Ideally, in a free society we should be able to hold our views, develop our own rules of living, and pursue our choices. But the creation of such a society too requires some constraints.

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