FREEDOM

                                     CHAPTER-2

 

                                      FREEDOM 

introduction 

you surely know that India fought for freedom of their country from foreign rule. many countries have fought for their independence too.we also argue with our parents to give us freedom to live our own lives. so freedom is a very important principle for individual and for society as well. so we require freedom so that we can control our own destinies.

but we cannot have absolute freedom. there need to be restrictions on freedom so that everybody can enjoy their freedom. 

So, in this chapter we will read arguments from different thinkers on how much freedom should be given to individuals and what restrictions should be placed on them? remember we did importance of political theory in first chapter where i told you that various thinkers debate about various ideas and principles and give different definitions of values like freedom, equality and rights. we will do this here.  Before we start with our freedom, we need to know that Nelson Mandel of South Africa spent 28 years in jail to fight for independence movement. and Aung San Suu kyi of Myanmar also spent years under house arrest to fight for independence. 

What is freedom?

freedom includes two aspects- one absence of external constraints and two, existence of conditions which expand freedom. what does this means?

external constraints means the force or compulsions under which an individual has to work. and absence of external constraints means that  an individual should not be forced  to perform any actions which she/he does not want to perform.

for example: if a woman wants to drive, there should not be rules and regulations which deny her that. in Iran women are not allowed to drive. So there should be absence of external constraints(restrictions) , so that she can enjoy her freedom. so a society should have minimum constraints to allow more freedom.

and second is conditions which expand her freedom. this  means that there should be conditions available that make her enjoy her freedom more. for example: there should be educational opportunities available for women so that she can keep herself informed, she can get into employment, she can know her rights and in this way she will be having more opportunities to enjoy her freedom. and in this freedom she can develop her capabilities and creativity. so there should be freedom in sports, science, arts, music or exploration. 

So, both these freedoms help individual to grow and develop his/her capabilities. 

but there cannot be absolute freedom. and total absence of constraints. there need to be some social constraints so that freedom is not abused. social constraints means that restrictions to be imposed on the individual keeping in  mind the benefit of society. for example: freedom of speech and expression has restrictions that you cannot abuse anybody, their family or their religion. so there is a need to look at which freedom society allows.

From where does constraints come

we have read previously that freedom can be realized when there is absence of constraints. but from does constraints come. we have read an example where women are not allowed to drive in Iran. so, constraints come from law imposed by government. other example of constraints by law is the apartheid system in South Africa. here the colonial rulers discriminated between black and white people and imposed harsher laws on blacks. blacks were treated as slaves of white people. that is why we want democracy where there is rule of representatives of people and they can draft laws in their favor. 

other constraints mean economic constraints like economic inequality in the form of poverty, lower wages etc, social inequality in the form of untouchability and caste discrimination and exploitation of women. and cultural inequality in terms of discrimination on the basis of religion and culture. to understand this more, let us know what Subas Chandra Bose said about freedom. Bose said that there should be freedom of rich and poor, freedom for men and women, freedom for all classes and all individuals, freedom for individual and society. freedom does not only means independence of India from British rule but equal distribution of wealth, abolition of caste, destruction of communalism and religious intolerance. 

HARM PRINCIPLE 

to answer the question how much constraints(restrictions) we need on our liberty, we will be discussing about liberal political thinker i.e. John Stuart Mill. Mill says that freedom can be restrained only for self protection. that means if somebody's freedom harm the other person then that person's freedom can be restricted. 

for example: if 'x' person harms 'y' person, then only 'x' freedom should be restricted.

there are two types of actions- 'self regarding actions' and the 'other regarding actions'. 

self regarding actions are those actions that shave consequences only for the individual only and nobody else. it means actions which affect himself/herself only are self regarding actions. here the state has no business to interfere in the actions of those people. to put it simply "it is none of your business to interfere in my work". but actions which affect the other person, or harm him/her is called other regarding actions. if your action harms me then i need to protect myself. 

JS Mill says that since freedom is very important for human life so it should be constrained only in special circumstances. the harm needs to be serious. If it is a minor harm then there can be  a social disapproval but we cannot call law to interfere in that. because otherwise law will expand it area of  interference and which will restrict freedom in the long run.for example: if somebody has played a loud music then we should not call police to interfere and stop the music. We should show society's disapproval to it. there cannot be legal punishment for it. law should be called only when there is a serious threat.

john mill mill calls for tolerance of different views, interests and principles of people. but if it harms the other people then it should be dealt by law. For example: hatred campaigns. but we cannot ask for life imprisonment for those people. there should be reasonable restrictions and reasonable punishment. 

reasonable restrictions means that that punishment should not be in excess , not out of proportion of the action otherwise it would affect the general condition of freedom of society. 

LIBERALISM

Liberalism has been identified with tolerance. it means the right of person to hold and express his/ her opinion and beliefs should be defended. and modern liberalism focus on individual. they emphasis on individual's choices and interests. family, society and community has no value. but only the individuals have value. for example:in terms of marriage , only the individuals will be heard not their parents or community. liberals give priority to individual liberty rather than equality. 

classical liberalism used to focus on minimal state where state has only few roles to play as maintaining law and order. but now liberal state calls for welfare state  where the individual is allowed to pursue its own activities but at the same time state take measures to reduce social and economic inequalities. 

NEGATIVE AND POSITIVE LIBERALISM 

now the important question which comes is what kind of freedom should be restricted? JS Mill has answered this question by giving harm principle. he has divided actions into self regarding and other regarding actions. we should not only listen to one  view point but other's viewpoint also.so what does other scholars say? let us read about this. 

liberty has been divided into positive liberty and negative liberty. 

Negative Liberty is an area where there cannot be any interference by anyone- whether it be state, family, community etc.   and positive liberty is an area where the state can interfere in the lives of an individual to expand their liberty. for example: state can make education compulsory for all children. in this way state can help in making the lives of people better. 

negative liberty: it explains the idea 'freedom from'. that means freedom from state, family, community, authority etc. 

so this is the area where no authority can interfere is negative liberty. an individual can do whatever he /she wants to do. then how much area should be given. thinkers say that wide area should be given because this will enhance the dignity of an individual. for example: state should not interfere in what clothes to wear,what to read , where to go for traveling, and what to eat? etc.

positive liberty: it explains the idea "freedom to". it means freedom to work, freedom to write, read , learn, play. for this we need state because when state provides education then only we can write, read and learn. and when state provides health facilities, then only we can play and be fit.

so, this area is concerned where state can interfere. and state's interference here does not restrict freedom. it actually enhances freedom. for example: provision of positive conditions like education, health, employment etc. so these provisions help in development and fuller growth of his personality. positive liberty recognizes that one can be free only in society. and hence state creates a society in such a way that it enlarges one's freedom. 

however, negative liberty and positive liberty go hand in hand. we require negative liberty so that we can expand our freedom and develop our mental and physical faculties. and positive liberty is necessary so that we can expand our freedom by getting benefited by education, health facilities and employment provided by state.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND EXPRESSION

this is one area where there should be minimum interference. for free exchange of knowledge and free flow of ideas, there should be freedom to speak. This is a  very important freedom considering that many films, books, movies, plays, paintings are banned. as we have read earlier that there should not be hatred campaigns and hatred speeches against anyone. yes, banning should be there , but the question which comes is how much banning should be there? banning should not be regularly, otherwise state gets into habit of banning every time.  

Voltaire's famous statement reads that although i disapprove of whatever you say but i defend your right to speak till death. it means that i may not agree with whatever you say but then you have a right to speak. 

JS Mill gave for reasons of why freedom of speech and expression should be protected.

a. no idea is completely false. mill says that no idea in this world is false. for example: if your parents tell you to go for higher studies they are not wrong, because they know that it will brighten your future prospects. but if you do not want to go for higher studies, then you also not wrong because you are having interest in music and you think you can brighten your future prospects here. so no body is false. and nobody is at fault. 

b. truth does not emerge by itself. it is only through debates and discussion that truth emerges.  discussion between parents and a young child can lead to this conclusion that the child will go for higher studies in music. in this way, a child will be able to follwo his passion in music and he will follow hi parents dream of going for higher studies also

c. this conflict of ideas is important not only for past but for present and future also. only when truth is exposed to constant criticism , it (truth) then becomes trustworthy. for example: if higher studies has not helped the child in his music then constant discussion and debates will nullify the importance of higher studies in music. 

d. we cannot be sure what we considered true is actually true. ideas which were true at one point of time are false at another point of time. for example:  higher studies were important and now also it is important but  children can make career in music by going to reality shows etc.  and by not only going for higher studies.

mill says that society that completely suppresses the idea is not acceptable today. and it runs the danger of losing very valuable knowledge. 

NCERT Solutions for Class 11th: Ch 2 Freedom Political 

Science

Page No: 30

Exercises

1. What is meant by freedom? Is there a relationship between freedom for the individual and freedom for the nation?

Answer

Freedom is the absence of constraints. An individual could be considered free if he/she is not subject to external controls or coercion and is able to make independent decisions and act in an autonomous way. It is also about expanding the ability of people to freely express themselves and develop their creativity, sensibilities and capabilities.

Yes, there is a relationship between freedom for the individual and freedom for the nation. A nation whose government is free from external influence can only grant freedom to its individuals. On the other hand, a nation is said to be free only when it has freedom as one of its principle which is provided to its people.

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2. What is the difference between the negative and positive conception of liberty?

Answer

Negative Liberty	Positive Liberty
It is only concerned with the inviolable area in which no external authority can interfere.	It recognizes that one can be free only in society (not outside it) and hence tries to make that society such that it enables the development of the individual.
It is not concerned with the conditions of the society.	It is concerned with the enabling conditions of the society.
It is concerned with explaining the idea of ‘freedom from’.	It is concerned with explaining the idea of ‘freedom to’.

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3. What is meant by social constraints? Are constraints of any kind necessary for 

enjoying freedom? 

Answer

 The domination and external controls on freedom of individual imposed by the society is known as social constraints. These controls may be imposed by government through laws which embody the power of the rulers over the people. Constraints on freedom can also result from social inequality
of the kind implicit in the caste system, or which result from extreme economic inequality in a society.

Yes, the constraints of any kind necessary for enjoying freedom because:

• It is necessary for the creation of society.

• It develops respect for differences of views, opinions and beliefs.

• It is required to control violence and settle disputes.

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4. What is the role of the state in upholding freedom of its citizens?

Answer

The role of the state in upholding freedom of its citizen are:

• The state provides certain rights to its people.

• It also maintains reasonable restrictions and on people so that they cannot harm others and their freedom.

• It provides positive liberty to its citizens to enable them to expand their ability and talent.
 
• It keeps checks on freedom of its people in order to maintain social stability.

5. What is meant by freedom of expression? What in your view would be a reasonable restriction on this freedom? Give examples.

Answer

Freedom of expression means the freedom to express one's views and ideas freely through speech, writing, books plays etc. It is considered to belong to the minimum area of ‘non-interference’.
The examples of reasonable restriction on the freedom expression are:

• Censor boards restrict the freedom of speech by banning portion of the film which to maintains peace in the society or to keep check the bad effect of the film.

• The freedom shouldn't interfere in someone's privacy. Employees of Royal household of England are constrained by contract from disclosing any inner affairs of the royal household.