Two Concepts of Liberty
Isaiah Berlin's 1958 Oxford lecture distinguishing negative from positive liberty.
At a glance
Key ideas
Negative liberty, Positive liberty, Freedom for the pike …
See all 5Criticism
Charles Taylor, G. A. Cohen, Bernard Bailyn
See all 3Connections
Also on this page: Key facts · Links · Sources · Related pages
- Berlin separates negative liberty, freedom from interference by others, from positive liberty, self-mastery or self-rule.
- Both are real values, but positive liberty has been especially open to abuse.
- Under the influence of thinkers from Plato to Hegel it was tied to rational knowledge only an elite could claim, which could justify coercion in freedom's name.
- The two concepts show that human values are plural and must be traded off, not merged.
Why it matters
- It brought analytic philosophy back to political philosophy and remains the standard starting point for any argument about what freedom means.
Key facts
- Author
- Isaiah Berlin1
- Delivered
- 31 Oct 1958, his inaugural lecture as Chichele Professor at Oxford1
- Published
- As a 57-page pamphlet, Oxford at the Clarendon Press1
- Collected in
- Four Essays on Liberty (Oxford University Press, 1969); Liberty: Incorporating Four Essays on Liberty (2002)1
Key ideas
-
Negative liberty1
"What is the area within which the subject ... is or should be left to do or be what he is able to do or be, without interference by other persons?"
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Positive liberty1
"What, or who, is the source of control or interference that can determine someone to do, or be, this rather than that?"
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Freedom for the pike1
"Freedom for the pike is death for the minnows": one person's liberty depends on others' restraint.
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Abuse of positive liberty1
Tied to rational knowledge only an elite holds, it was used to defend nationalism, paternalism and collective control.
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Pluralism1
Both liberties are valid; the right response is to distinguish and trade them off.
Criticism
Connections
Written by
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