Political liberty means rule by law, not unchecked individual license
Evidence
Freedom then is not what Sir Robert Filmer tells us, Observations, A. 55. a liberty for every one to do what he lists, to live as he pleases, and not to be tied by any laws: but freedom of men under government is, to have a standing rule to live by, common to every one of that society, and made by the legislative power erected in it; a liberty to follow my own will in all things, where the rule prescribes not; and not to be subject to the inconstant, uncertain, unknown, arbitrary will of another man: as freedom of nature is, to be under no other restraint but the law of nature. — John Locke, Second Treatise of Government, 30
Categorization
- DEFINE: Defines liberty under government against Filmer’s ‘do what you list’ as the founding contractarian contrast.
- ADDENDUM: Directly relevant to ‘Complaints About Immodesty Go Way Back’ in that Filmer-style liberty-as-license coding of opposing views is the same rhetorical move as dress-panic moralizing.
- XREF: This standing-rule-versus-arbitrary-will definition of freedom will surface in later American jurisprudence on due process and rule of law. — connects to: Political and paternal power are distinct in foundation and end, not the same thing. — John Locke, Second Treatise of Government, 84; In republican theory, law itself creates freedom rather than merely restricting it — Frank Lovett, Republicanism, 53; Negative liberty means being free from interference in one’s choices. — Frank Lovett, Republicanism, 7 (+4 more)
Broader Connections
- Restraint by fair law is compatible with freedom, unlike arbitrary sway
#corroborates(0.95) — Philip Pettit, Republicanism, 66 - Republican freedom can be equated with an extended rule of law
#corroborates(0.92) — Frank Lovett, Republicanism, 32 - In republican theory, law itself creates freedom rather than merely restricting it
#expands(0.90) — Frank Lovett, Republicanism, 53 - Negative liberty means being free from interference in one’s choices.
#complicates(0.82) — Frank Lovett, Republicanism, 7