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Full Idea
Isaiah Berlin draws a famous distinction between 'negative' and 'positive' concepts of liberty, and argues that the latter should be seen as a wrong turning (because totalitarian regimes have invoked it).
Gist of Idea
Berlin distinguishes 'negative' and 'positive' liberty, and rejects the latter
Source
report of Isaiah Berlin (Two Concepts of Liberty [1958]) by Adam Swift - Political Philosophy (3rd ed) 2 'Intro'
Book Ref
Swift,Adam: 'Political Philosophy (3rd edn)' [Polity 2014], p.57
A Reaction
Swift argues against him, saying that positive liberty is not a single concept (it's three), and has aspects that should be defended. I think I'm with Swift on that. Is religious freedom a freedom 'from' something, or a freedom 'to do' something?
| 7662 | Romanticism is the greatest change in the consciousness of the West [Berlin] |
| 7664 | The Greeks have no notion of obligation or duty [Berlin] |
| 7663 | Judaism and Christianity views are based on paternal, family and tribal relations [Berlin] |
| 7665 | Most Enlightenment thinkers believed that virtue consists ultimately in knowledge [Berlin] |
| 7676 | If we are essentially free wills, authenticity and sincerity are the highest virtues [Berlin] |
| 7677 | Central to existentialism is the romantic idea that there is nothing to lean on [Berlin] |
| 7460 | The great moments are the death of Aristotle, Machiavelli, and Romanticism [Berlin, by Watson] |
| 20544 | Berlin distinguishes 'negative' and 'positive' liberty, and rejects the latter [Berlin, by Swift] |