• The concept of liberty or freedom is a fundamental principle in political philosophy.
• Liberty is seen as the distinctive principle of liberalism, while freedom is recognized as a universal principle.
• Freedom is valued across various political ideologies, including liberal, idealist, and Marxist theories.
• Although freedom is widely accepted as an end, there are differing views on the means and mode of achieving it.
• Even those who advocate for absolutism, authoritarianism, and slavery claim to support freedom, often arguing that submission to authority leads to the best form of freedom for ordinary people.
• Champions of liberty have consistently opposed the claims of the privileged classes to any supposed excellence in authority.
• The ideal of liberty has been a driving force behind revolutionary struggles against despotism and foreign regimes.
• The struggle for liberty is always connected to the spirit of equality, as oppressed sections rise up against their oppressors.
• In peasant revolts and national struggles for independence, the oppressed challenge the alleged superiority of their oppressors and demand equality and justice based on the universal principle of human equality.

Nature of Liberty

• The idea of liberty can be analyzed in two ways:
  • (a) Freedom as the quality of human being
  • (b) Freedom as the condition of human being

Freedom as the Quality of Human Being

• Freedom as the quality of human being suggests that only humans, unlike other living beings, are capable of freedom.
• Animals, birds, and insects are governed by the rules of "struggle for existence" and "survival of the fittest" where the strongest and cleverest survive.
• These creatures have no aim of life beyond mere existence, unlike humans who have the ability to pursue a purpose in life.
• Humans have created complex institutions, civilization, and culture to pursue their aims, distinguishing themselves from other animals.
• While animals are slaves of nature, humans have learned to tame, control, and harness nature for their benefit.
• Freedom is considered a distinctive quality of humans.
• Jacob Bronowski (1973) notes that while animals leave traces of what they were, humans leave traces of what they create.
• Freedom as the quality of human being is demonstrated in humanity's ability to gain scientific knowledge of the laws of nature and apply them for the benefit of mankind.
• Without scientific knowledge, humans would remain slaves of nature, and their ignorance could be disastrous.
• Therefore, humans' ability to gain scientific knowledge is the source of their freedom.

Freedom as the Condition of Human Being

• Freedom as the condition of human being is defined as absence of constraint, which can be both internal and external.
• In politics, the focus is on external restraint, while in philosophy, both internal and external constraints are considered.
• When discussing positive action by the state to remove constraint, we return to political liberty.
• Liberty is demanded because humans are considered rational creatures, and freedom means that once a person understands what is best for themselves and society, their rationality should not be hindered by external, unreasonable restraint.
• This removal of external restraint is referred to as negative liberty.
• A person may still not be free even without external restraint. For example, someone suffering from physical pain or mental disturbance may not be able to pursue their desires.
• Humans are not only rational, but also sensitive beings who may feel constrained by hunger, thirst, fatigue, or other internal constraints.
• True freedom requires that a person is free from both internal and external constraints, including physical pain, disease, ignorance, fear, and want.
• Achieving such freedom is challenging in the real world, but a state can be judged by its ability to minimize constraints in citizens' lives, thus securing positive liberty.
• Freedom for rational agents means they should not depart from rational thinking or lose their desire for freedom.
• A slave may feel content with their slavery or become a slave to superstitions, irrational customs, or social pressures.
• Some people may become trapped in consumer culture, seeking satisfaction from material goods rather than from nature, art, or literature.
• If people are not free and do not seek freedom, efforts should be made to awaken their conscience and make them desire to be free.
• Servitude is of two kinds:
  • Slavery to domination from outside
  • Slavery to one's own artificial needs.
• Mahatma Gandhi noted that freedom is not just external but also about breaking free from artificial needs.
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau stated that slaves may become so debased by their chains that they lose the desire to break free.

Conclusion

• Despite the long history of human civilization, humans have not fully risen above the rule of the animal kingdom.
• When elders or more experienced, competent, and energetic individuals manage common affairs for the common good, people do not lose their freedom in obeying their commands.
• However, in practice, it is often the selfish, strong, and shrewd individuals who gain dominant positions and acquire special privileges.
• As a result, society is divided into privileged and underprivileged sections, including the oppressor and oppressed, the exploiter and exploited, the dominant and dependent groups.
• One set of men assumes power over the lives of others, leading to the division of society.
• The privileged classes develop a vested interest in maintaining the existing order and justify it by stressing its virtues to establish the legitimacy of their dominant position.
• A typical example of this is Aristotle's defense of slavery, where he argued that some men differ in moral excellence and that slaves were not full human beings, merely 'living tools'.
• Aristotle suggested that slaves could gain the benefit of virtue only by serving their masters and that slavery provided leisure for free men, which was necessary for the exercise of virtue.
• Privileged classes have always defended the status quo, opposing any change to the existing situation.
• It is only when the subjugated sections rise in revolt against injustice and oppression that they challenge the privileges of the dominant sections and raise the slogan of liberty to press their claim for equality.
• Liberty is thus a force for social change, the voice of the oppressed, the voice against injustice, and the call to reestablish human values against the rules of the animal kingdom.