Liberty — Important Questions

T.H. Green

T.H. Green is credited with developing the positive view of liberty. He defined it as 'a positive power of doing or enjoying something that is worth doing or worth enjoying in common with others.' This view supports reasonable social restraints in the interest of public good. Hayek and Mill represent the negative view. Hobbes described the condition of license in the state of nature, not true liberty.

The eager maintenance of the atmosphere for best possible development of personality

Harold Laski defined liberty as 'the eager maintenance of the atmosphere in which a person may have the best possible development of his personality.' This reflects the positive view – liberty is not just absence of restraint, but creating the right conditions for human growth. Options A, C, and D are either incorrect or unrelated to Laski's definition.

Liberals define liberty as a bundle of rights; Marxists link liberty to economic equality and end of exploitation

Liberals define liberty as a set of rights that allow individuals to develop their personalities, without worrying too much about the economic structure of society. Marxists, however, argue that real liberty is impossible in a capitalist society where one class exploits another. For Marxists, true freedom comes only when the capitalist system is replaced by a socialist/classless society that ends exploitation. Option A reverses the two views. Options C and D are clearly incorrect.

Classless, stateless society free from exploitation

Karl Marx believed that in a capitalist society, the working class (proletariat) is exploited by the owning class (bourgeoisie). Real freedom, according to Marx, is possible only in a classless and stateless society where there is no exploitation of man by man. As Marx said, 'Every emancipation is a restoration of the human world and of human relationships to man himself.' Capitalism, democracy without economic equality, or monarchy cannot achieve this.