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A quick summary of this chapter for last-minute revision: quotes, definitions and comparison tables. The full notes are available separately.
1 Two Examples of the Struggle for Freedom
| Person | Book | Key point |
|---|---|---|
| Nelson Mandela | Long Walk to Freedom | Struggle against apartheid in South Africa, 27 years in jail |
| Aung San Suu Kyi | Freedom from Fear | Under house arrest in Myanmar, “real freedom is freedom from fear” |
2 Quotes Worth Remembering
Who Said What
Tilak“Swaraj is my birth right and I shall have it.”
Gandhi (Hind Swaraj, 1909)“It is Swaraj when we learn to rule ourselves.”
Subhas Chandra Bose (1929, Lahore)Freedom means all-round freedom for individual and society, rich and poor, men and women alike
J.S. Mill (On Liberty)The sole end of interference is self-protection, to prevent harm to others
Voltaire“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to death your right to say it.”
3 Definitions, Exactly as They Should Be Written
All Definitions in One Place
FreedomAbsence of external constraints, and the expansion of opportunities for self-development
SwarajRule of the self and rule over the self
Harm PrincipleInterference is justified only when an action causes serious harm to others
Self-regarding actionsAffect only the actor, no state interference
Other-regarding actionsAffect others too, state can restrain on serious harm
Reasonable restrictionsRational, not excessive, proportionate to the action
4 Two Key Comparisons, Don’t Mix Them Up
4.1 Self-Regarding vs Other-Regarding Actions
Self-regarding
- Affects only the actor
- No state interference
Other-regarding
- Affects others too
- State can restrain on serious harm
4.2 Negative vs Positive Liberty
Negative liberty
- “Freedom from”: area of non-interference
- Question: over what area am I the master?
Positive liberty
- “Freedom to”: conditions for development
- Traced to Rousseau, Hegel, Marx, Gandhi, Aurobindo
5 Mill’s Four Arguments for Freedom of Expression
All Four, In Order
1. No idea is completely falseEven a wrong-seeming idea has an element of truth
2. Truth emerges from conflictAn opposing idea can help the right idea emerge
3. Conflict has continuing valueOtherwise truth becomes an unthinking cliché
4. We are never fully certainToday’s truth need not be the final truth
Final Recap
- Two dimensions of freedom: absence of constraints, and opportunities for self-development
- Two sources of constraints: domination/external control, social-economic inequality
- Harm Principle: no interference in self-regarding actions, interference only for serious other-regarding harm
- Negative = “freedom from”, Positive = “freedom to”
- Mill’s four arguments for freedom of expression, Voltaire’s statement
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