Negative liberty
Negative liberty, an idea that was first expressed as a separate form of liberty by Isaiah Berlin, is the absence of coercion, as opposed to Positive Liberty, which is the presence of means to ones aims.
Negative liberty means that no-one is allowed to start coercion against others, that everyone has a complete rule over his or her body and property.
Suppose, for example, that you want to make love with a certain person.
In some countries this is forbidden, if the other person is of same sex or if money is transferred. Such laws are violations of negative liberty, according to which no acts whose participants are willing must be hindered by others. A law that would force that other person to make love with you would certainly also violate negative liberty but add your positive liberty; so would also do a law that would force others to provide you transport or room or other means to your ends, violating the negative liberty of those forced. Thus, a positive liberty of yours means rather an obligation to others than a liberty for you. However, one can give also more tricky examples.
Persons considering negative liberty as an absolute rule are called libertarians. However, most liberals only consider negative liberty as the main rule that can be mildly and cautiously violated to provide some important means, positive liberty, particularly to those most in need. On contrast, those keeping positive liberty as their main rule are typically collectivists, left-wingers, even socialists.
Bibliography
- Isaiah Berlin: Four Essays on Liberty (especially Two Concepts of Liberty)
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