The Many Faces of ‘Freedom’
At first blush, we might define ‘freedom’ in negative terms – as Thomas Hobbes
did in 1651 – in terms of the absence of ‘constraints’. But this is only a
small first step, and leaves many questions unanswered:
What qualifies as a ‘constraint’? Is the Law of Gravity a constraint?
Are we ever fully unconstrained?
If not, then which constraints curtail our freedom and which ones don’t?
Freedom means different things to different people. Are constraints different
too?
And how might we define ‘freedom’ in positive terms?
In this short talk, I retrace the evolution of the concept of ‘freedom’ since
Hobbes; from Locke, Bentham & Hegel to J. S. Mill, Thomas Green & Charles
Taylor.
Imperial Hotel 252 Oxford Street Sydney
July 2, by 0700pm.
http://www.meetup.com/The-Philosophers-Corner/events/124423992/
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J.Simon Gisbert
MBA. Consultant Psychologist.
HDR Candidate
Mail address:
PO Box 179
St Leonards
NSW 1590
Australia
Tel. (+61) 0432034916
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