Review article
https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.47960/2303-7431.19.31.2024.112
INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM IN LIBERAL THEORY
Damirka Mihaljević
; University of Mostar, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
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* Corresponding author.
Abstract
Throughout history, the concept of freedom has appeared as an idea and a longing in various forms. Freedom has been interpreted depending on culture, social environment and individual existence. Although the essence of the fundamental concept of freedom may seem elusive, every interpretation of the word “freedom”, even the least conventional, must, according to Berlin, encompass at least the minimum of what is designated as “negative” freedom. Therefore, there must be an area in which I am not restrained. Such negative freedom is the central moral and political ideal of liberalism and a fundamental element of the European political culture. However, the concept of freedom as allowing individuals “to do or be what they want to do or be without interference of others” has taken on a crucial and controversial role in various formulations of liberal political theory. Criticism, that has emerged, has focused on the problematic individualism that tends to turn towards egocentric individuals, demanding its communitarian correction. Modern communitarianism emerged in the 1980s as a reaction to the prevailing philosophies of liberalism, which emphasized too much individual rights and egocentricity, and too little social responsibility.
Keywords
freedom; Isaiah Berlin; liberalism; communitarianism; political theory
Hrčak ID:
319607
URI
Publication date:
10.7.2024.
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