Introduction to Political Theory

Chapter 2

Freedom

Introduction

Freedom is regarded by many as the pre-eminent political value, but what

does it mean to be free? Do we have to justify freedom, or do it we take it as

axiomatic that we should be free, and that it is restrictionson freedom which

require justification? And what are those justifications? If we go into the street

and survey people’s attitudes to freedom, we might find that they favour the

freedom to do things of which they approve, but would like the state to use

its power to restrict freedom to do things of which they disapprove. Is there

then a principledway to establish what we should be free to do? At the core

of freedom is the idea of ‘choice’, but can we choose to do anything we want?

Chapter map

In this chapter we will:

• Provide a working definition of
  freedom.


• Outline one of the most important
  contributions to the debate over
  freedom – that advanced by John
  Stuart Mill in his book On Liberty– and
  use Mill’s argument as a framework for
  discussing other perspectives on
  freedom.
  
  
  • More specifically, we will consider the
    distinction between action and
    expression; harm to self and harm to
    others; and offensive (the offence
    principle) and legal moralism.
  
  
  • Illustrate arguments over freedom
    through the use of case studies, and,
    in particular, the debate over whether
    consensual sadomasochism should or
    should not be prohibited by law.