Positive Freedom

Notes

Claim

Positive freedom means "freedom to", to pursue goals and dreams without being held back.

Explanation

It is different from Freedom from external constraints that focuses on escaping these limitations.

Often when people try to claim that they lack positive freedom, they are gaslighted because the others focus on their negative freedom.

Why it matters

Thinking in terms of positive freedom increases the importance of our Clear direction matters more than speed of progress, of what we want to do in life and what do we can (or can't) do to pursue it. It requires us to choose how to live our lives. We don't just settle for being free of hard limitations, but also try to do something with our lives Taking active control rather than accepting circumstances passively.

Examples

For example, there is no legislative or otherwise limitation that prevents women from advancing into top level management. So their negative freedom is identical to the rest. However, one can argue that the prevalence of sexism and undervaluing women in the workplace is a limit none the less, i.e the glass ceiling is a form of damage to their positive freedom to advance professionally.

Similarly, access to education is on the surface equal to all. However one can argue that the high costs of good education serve as a limit to the positive freedom of the poor to develop themselves.

Supporters

Opposers

Open questions

Visual

Overview

🔼Topic:: Freedom and Agency ↩️Origin:: Isaiah Berlin (philosopher) 🔗Link::