The Meaning of Freedom

Abstract

Attempting to make sense of the bewildering variety of definitions of freedom is a daunting task. I propose to do so by firstly, in this chapter, examining what kind of concept the notion of liberty is — i.e. is it a value-free or a value-laden concept?; is it a single concept or are there two concepts? From this examination I will conclude that while there is only one concept of liberty — a value-free definition acceptable to all parties — there are many conceptions of that single concept of liberty — all of which are value-laden in character. Secondly, in Chapter 2, I consider the seven most prominent of these conceptions of the concept of liberty.