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What is freedom? How is freedom
related to liberty? Liberty conveys the idea of the right or the ability of an
individual to freely express his will. Freedom on the other hand is a word
which contains inbuilt restrictions. “My freedom to swing my hands stops at my
neighbour's nose”. A free society contains individuals who are free to do what
they do, whilst respecting the freedoms of others. Freedom is the liberty of
the individual coupled with concern by the liberated individual for the
liberties of others.
Freedom cannot be defined,
except through an analysis of the restrictions on human action.
Therefore, the area of freedom
available to the individual in any society is a residuary one. The individual
is at liberty to do what law and social custom do not forbid. Therefore, the
content of the restrictions on liberty are important. What distinguishes a free
society from other societies is the nature and extent of the legal and
customary restrictions on freedom.
Freedom can be defined only in
terms of the restrictions on freedom - and I show some of the legal
restrictions on freedom which historically evolved and were responsible for the
rise of western civilisation are analysed in this paper.
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