| liberty,
principle of
Freedom of human
action, grounded in the principle of autonomy,
consistent with the nature and dignity of human beings.
It is generally
accepted that some liberties may be judiciously traded off
for state protection via the law. As with the specification
of justice, reasonable persons
may differ markedly on the details of such liberty trade-offs,
as may particular societies.
Rationales for
the limitation of individual human liberties generally divide
into those relating to the individual whose liberty is circumscribed
versus those that relate to others:
- the harm principle
- to prevent harm to others;
- the offense
principle - to prevent offense to others;
- legal moralism
- to prevent immoral acts (which acts can be viewed as harming
either the individual, society or both).
Philosophers who
have taken a darker view of human beings (e.g., Hobbes), or
who place a higher value on community (e.g., Rousseau) are
inclined to opt for more circumscription of liberty than those
who see liberty as pre-eminently important and humans as fundamentally
rational, good-natured sorts. (John Locke and our own Founding
Fathers are examples of the latter view.)
See also:
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