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Difference between revisions of "Political Freedom"

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'''Freedom''' is the [[right]], or the capacity, of self-determination,
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'''Freedom''' the capacity for self-determination or the expression of the personal or communal will.
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as an expression of the individual will.
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==History of political freedom==
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==What freedom is not==
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Freedom is not a [[constitutional right|right]], nor is it a [[priveledge]]. Rights are the legal barriers for the state from interfearing in person's life, however, these rights can often be suspended under some circumstances (such as [[war]], [[terrorism|terrorist]] attack, or [[natural disaster]]). Priveledge is something that is normally practices only by a few persons, at the expance of others.
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Some philosophers have distinguished two senses of the word "freedom". One use is the "[[negative (social sciences)|negative]] freedom", which is defined as the absence of constraint. According to [[Thomas Hobbes|Hobbes]], for example, one is free when the [[law]] is silent on a subject. But "freedom" is also used in another, "[[positive (social sciences)|positive]]" sense, where freedom is defined as the ability to transcend the social and cultural conditions which limit the potential of the individual for self-actualization - or, in simpler terms, the ability to take certain actions according to one's own will.
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Among others, [[Isaiah Berlin]] examined the difference between these two views of freedom in his [[1958]] essay ''[[Two Concepts of Liberty]]''.
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One of the most notable contributors to the modern conception of political freedom is 19th Century English philosopher [[John Stuart Mill]] who, in his magnus opus ''[[On Liberty]]'', outlines several freedoms which were deficient in Victorian Britain. He largely bases his political philosophy on the [[harm principle]] - which basically demands that people be allowed do as they will unless someone is harmed (physically).
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==Forms of freedom==
 
==Forms of freedom==
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*Freedom to (do something yourself)
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Another common distinction made between kinds of freedom is the difference between "freedom from" social and political ills (which, some argue, is really more accurately described as safety or security), and "freedom to" do what one wants (for which some consider the term "liberty" more precise).
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**[[freedom of speech]]
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**[[freedom of the press]]  
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Political freedom is often connected to thoughts of [[civil liberties]] and [[human rights]], and so the fundamental ideas of positive and negative freedom inform the corollary debate over [[positive right|positive]] and [[negative right|negative]] rights.
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**[[freedom of belief|freedom of religion]]
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**[[freedom of association]]
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In most [[democracy|democratic]] societies, key freedoms legally protected by the government include:
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**[[freedom of movement]]
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*[[freedom of speech]]
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**[[freedom of thought]]
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*[[freedom of religion]] (or belief)
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*Freedom from (having something done against you)
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*[[freedom of association]]
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**freedom from [[discrimination]]
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*[[freedom of movement]] (or travel)
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**freedom from [[coersion]]
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*Freedom from [[discrimination]]
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**freedom to live without [[fear]]
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*[[freedom of the press]]  
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**freedom from [[physical violence]]
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*[[freedom of thought]]
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Many nations have specific chapters of their [[constitutions]] which codify these freedoms in a [[bill of rights]].
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The concept of what constitutes true "freedom" is often disputed by different groups on the [[political spectrum]]. For example, in [[right-wing]] [[libertarianism]] (i.e., libertarianism as it is understood in the [[United States]]; see [[libertarian socialism]] for libertarianism as it is understood in most of the rest of the world), freedom is defined in terms of lack of government interference; in particular, [[capitalist]]s place a high value on freedom from government interference in the economy. This kind of freedom may be referred to as a kind of [[negative liberty]].
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Those on the political [[left wing|Left]], on the other hand, place more emphasis on freedom as the ability of the individual to realize one's own potential and pursue happiness. Freedom in this sense may include freedom from want, poverty, deprivation, or oppression. These kinds of freedom may be referred to as [[positive liberty]].
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Many [[anarchism|anarchists]] see negative and positive liberty as complementary concepts of freedom.
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Environmentalists such as the [[Greens]] often argue that political freedoms should include some social constraint on use of [[ecosystem]]s.  They maintain there is no such thing, for instance, as "freedom to pollute" or "freedom to deforest" given the [[downstream consequences]].  The popularity of [[SUV]]s, [[golf]], and [[urban sprawl]] has been used as evidence that some ideas of freedom and [[ecological conservation]] can clash. This leads at times to serious confrontations and clashes of [[values]] reflected in advertising campaigns, e.g. that of [[PETA]] regarding [[fur]].
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In [[jurisprudence]], freedom is the [[right]] of autonomously determining one's own actions; generally it is granted in those fields in which the subject has no [[obligation]]s to fulfil or [[law]]s to obey, according to the interpretation that the hypothetical natural unlimited freedom is limited by the law for some matters.
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==Sayings on freedom==
 
==Sayings on freedom==
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*"E&lambda;&epsilon;&upsilon;&theta;&epsilon;&rho;&omicron;&sigmaf; &gamma; &theta;&alpha;&nu;&alpha;&tau;&omicron;&sigmaf;" (Freedom or Death!)<br> &mdash;[[Crete|Cretan]] War cry.
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*"E&lambda;&epsilon;&upsilon;&theta;&epsilon;&rho;&omicron;&sigmaf; &gamma; &theta;&alpha;&nu;&alpha;&tau;&omicron;&sigmaf;" (Freedom or Death!)
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*"Give me Liberty or give me Death!" <br>&mdash;[[Patrick Henry]]
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<br/> &mdash;[[Crete|Cretan]] [[war cry|War cry]].
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*"Give me Liberty or give me Death!"
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<br/>&mdash;[[Patrick Henry]]
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*"Political Freedom without economic equality is a pretense, a fraud, a lie; and the workers want no lying."
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<br/>&mdash;[[Mikhail Bakunin]] in [[The Red Association]] ([[1870]])
  
 
==Freedom in other languages==
 
==Freedom in other languages==
 
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{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" style="white-space: nowrap"
 
|-
 
|-
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! Spelling (original) !! English [[transliteration]] !! [[List of languages|Language]]
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! Spelling (original) !! English [[transliteration]] !! [[list of languages|Language]]
 
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! '''askatasun''' <br/> '''libertate''' !! !! [[Basque language|Basque]]
 
! '''askatasun''' <br/> '''libertate''' !! !! [[Basque language|Basque]]
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[[Category:Freedom]]
 
[[Category:Freedom]]
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==Credits==
 
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*Article is adapted from [[wikipedia:freedom (political)]] under the terms of [[GNU FDL]].
 
  
 
[[deu:Freiheit]]
 
[[deu:Freiheit]]

Revision as of 17:50, 6 September 2005

Freedom the capacity for self-determination or the expression of the personal or communal will.

What freedom is not

Freedom is not a right, nor is it a priveledge. Rights are the legal barriers for the state from interfearing in person's life, however, these rights can often be suspended under some circumstances (such as war, terrorist attack, or natural disaster). Priveledge is something that is normally practices only by a few persons, at the expance of others.

Forms of freedom

Sayings on freedom

  • "Eλευθερος γ θανατος" (Freedom or Death!)


—Cretan War cry.

  • "Give me Liberty or give me Death!"


—Patrick Henry

  • "Political Freedom without economic equality is a pretense, a fraud, a lie; and the workers want no lying."


—Mikhail Bakunin in The Red Association (1870)

Freedom in other languages

Spelling (original) English transliteration Language
askatasun
libertate 		Basque
frihed Danish
vrijheid Dutch
frælsi Faroese
vapaus Finnish
liberté French
freiheit German
Eλευθερος eleftheria Greek
libertà Italian
kebebasan Indonesian
自由 jiyū, ziyû Jananese
libertas Latin
uhuru Nigerian
frihet Norwegian
liberdade Polish
liberdade Portuguese
libertate Romanica
свобода
воля 		svoboda
volya 		Russian
libertad Spanish
frihet Swedish
آزادى azaadi Urdu
deu:Freiheit
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