Welcome to Philosophy

2023
http://www.ufh.ac.za/faculties/social-sciences/departments/philosop
hy/
TEST 1 Date
• We need a date for the first test
• When is an available time for you?
Previous Lecture
• What is political philosophy
• Normative vs descriptive disciplines

• Why should we take interest in political philosophy

• What about no politics?

• Mbuti – Appiah reading

• Hobbes
• State of Nature
Political philosophy continued
Political Liberty
• What is liberty?
• “The state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed
by authority on one's way of life, behaviour, or political views.”
• Do you agree with this definition?

• “the power or scope to act as one pleases.”

• Freedom?
• “the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants.”
• “the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved.”
Political liberty - Freedom

• How are we free

• Many ways to approach this question

• How do you think political philosophy approaches this question?

• What kind of freedom do we have?
• Are we free to do whatever we want

• Are there limits to our freedom?

• If so what kind of limits are these

• In What situations would we not be free?

Two concepts of liberty

Positive vs Negative Liberty

• Negative liberty
• Negative liberty is the absence of obstacles, barriers or constraints.

• 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.

• Which seems to be more convincing?

• Is this dichotomy fair?

• Is this distinction true for your personal freedom, or is it only applicable to a

political context? Are these the same?
Negative Freedom
• Freedom is the absence of barriers
• What kind of barriers are these?

• More emphasis on external objects

• How many options are open to the agent

• freedom of movement,
• freedom of religion,
• freedom of speech

• What about private property?

• Does this enhance freedom?

• In Mill’s well-known words, “the only freedom which deserves the name,
is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not
attempt to deprive others of theirs” (1859, 17).
Positive freedom
• Presence of control on the side of the agent

• More emphasis on the internal

• Is positive freedom a political concept?

• “Can individuals or groups achieve positive freedom through political action?”

• Is the agent going the right doors for the right reason

• “One is free merely to the degree that one has effectively determined oneself and
the shape of one’s life (Taylor, 1979).”
• Is positive freedom achieved individually or through the collective?
• The ‘general will’

• Freedom as autonomy

• Does a government have a role in helping individuals achieve positive

freedom?
• “…create the conditions necessary for individuals to be selfsufficient or to
achieve self-realization.”
Positive vs Negative Freedom?
Republicanism
• Monarchy Tyranny
• Aristocracy Oligarchy
• Democracy Ocholcracy / Mob rule

• Republic can be seen as a combination of all of these three

Liberty as Non-Domination
• How does the Republican program view liberty?

• Consider the slave or colony example (SEP republicanism reading)

• What is the opposite of liberty?
• Domination – interference?

• “Structural independence—as the condition of not being subject to the

arbitrary or uncontrolled power of a master.”

• a person or group enjoys freedom to the extent that no other person or group
has “the capacity to interfere in their affairs on an arbitrary basis” (1999, 165;
cf. Pettit 1997, 2001, 2012, 2014).
• Does this seem like the negative conception of liberty?

• One is not free or unfree – rather one is more or less free or unfree.

• “Republican freedom merely requires the absence of something,

namely, the absence of any structural dependence on arbitrary power
or domination.”
• “Thus, in contrast to the ordinary negative conception, on the
republican conception the mere possibility of arbitrary interference is
a limitation of liberty. Republican liberty thus seems to involve a
modal claim about the possibility of interference, and this is often
cashed out in terms of complex counterfactual claims. It is not clear
whether these claims can be adequately explicated (Gaus, 2003; cf.
Larmore, 2004).”
• Republican liberty – “What makes her unfree is her status, such that
she is permanently exposed to interference of any kind”
• Kind dictator – kind slave owner?
Republican liberty vs Negative liberty
• non-interference vs non-domination
• Have non-interference while being dominated
• Enjoy non-domination even with interference – arbitrary power is a
hindarance to freedom. Not power per se

• Example – A colonial free government with more imposing laws?

• What kind of power is good power?

Some Questions
• What does liberty mean to you?

• Which Conception of liberty appeals to you the most?

• In an ideal society, how should we approach the question of freedom?

Class Exercise (15 min)

• Briefly discuss the positive and negative conception

of liberty, and give an evaluation of which one you
find to be more convincing.
Readings/references
•Lovett, Frank. 2018. Republicanism. S2 “Liberty as non-domination.”
• Carter, Ian. 2016. Positive and Negative Liberty. S1 “Two Concepts of Liberty”
• Courtland, Shane D., Gerald Gaus, and David Schmidtz. 2022. Liberalism. S1 “The debate about
liberty”