2a. Perspectives on Freedom
by
31st July 2018
Perspectives on Freedom
YOUR TASK:
Read the perspectives below, and decide which ideology holds this view about the concept of freedom.
| Ideology | Perspective on freedom… | |
| Liberals | …treat freedom as the achievement of oneness, selfrealization through the absorption of the personal ego into the ecosphere or universe. In contrast with political freedom, this is sometimes seen as ‘inner’ freedom, freedom as self-actualization. | |
| Conservatives | …have generally understood freedom in positive terms to refer to self-fulfillment achieved through either free creative labor or cooperative social interaction. Social democrats have drawn close to modern liberalism in treating freedom as the realization of individual potential. | |
| Socialists | …give priority to freedom as the supreme individualist value. While classical liberals support negative freedom, understood as the absence of constraints or freedom of choice, modern liberals advocate positive freedom in the sense of personal development and human flourishing. | |
| Anarchists | …regard freedom as an absolute value, believing it to be irreconcilable with any form of political authority. Freedom is understood to mean the achievement of personal autonomy, not merely being ‘left alone’ but being rationally self-willed and self-directed. | |
| Fascists | …see freedom as essentially an inner or spiritual quality. Freedom means conformity to the revealed will of God, spiritual fulfillment being associated with submission to religious authority. | |
| Ecologists | …have traditionally endorsed a weak view of freedom as the willing recognition of duties and responsibilities, negative freedom posing a threat to the fabric of society. The new right, however, endorses negative freedom in the economic sphere, freedom of choice in the marketplace. | |
| Religious Fundamentalists | …reject any form of individual liberty as a nonsense. ‘True’ freedom, in contrast, means unquestioning submission to the will of the leader and the absorption of the individual into the national community. |
0 Comments