Can anyone give me a functional definition of liberty?

Question

I visited the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, PA, this past weekend and overheard some Australian tourists mockingly discussing how most Americans can't even define the term liberty...and how it is over used in America today. So I asked myself the question, as a former political science major, if I could define liberty. It was tough, and all I could really come up with was one word... freedom. Love to hear other peoples thoughts on what liberty means in the context of our founding fathers as well as in a modern day context. Thanks much!

Answer 1

Freedom of personal choice and autonomy; immunity from arbitrary exercise of authority; political independence.

In short, the ability to tell the government "No, I won't...."

Answer 2

Take away the flour and a chocolate cake is not a cake anymore, no matter how much chocolate you put in. This is because the flour is what makes it a cake.

Where there is no state as we think of it, there will still be an organization or group that monopolizes force, which is the main ingredient of government just as flour is the main ingredient in chocolate cake.


I don’t think liberty is the right word to use outside the context of the state.

Liberty is a context provided by the state.

It is a context in which people have negative freedom (freedom from official constraint) outside of violent crime property damage treason etc.

It is also a context of rule of law and equal protection under that law.

I add this because the state can sponsor your private oppressor by protecting him when you have the upper hand and looking the other way when he has the upper hand.

Liberty is a condition maintained by a government. Under this condition there is rule of low
there is equal protection under the law
citizens are free from official constraint outside of violating legitimate laws

Answer 3

First, I applaud you for visiting the Liberty Bell. I was born and reared in Philadelphia, and first saw the Bell when they put it on a float and pulled it thorugh the streets in 1976 . . .

. . . you'd like a functional definition of liberty? As a native of the town of the Liberty Bell and true fan of all things American Revolution, I will try to describe it.

'Liberty' is a political concept that, when applied to individuals, provides the means and reasons for developing the self to the fullest via whatever means one desires--limited only by the natural boundaries of others' liberty to do the same.

This is, I hope, not too long a definition. It is what I feel was meant by 'pursuit of happiness' and encompasses financial, spiritual and fraternal liberty as well as the needs of the environment and animals as well as other people.

IMO, If the Aussies wanted to jeer at something, they should laugh at people who revere a cracked bell. . . .but 'blessed are the crack'd, for they shall let in the light!' LOL!

Answer 4

Something that you lose as every new law is enacted.

However.

I think they're jealous of America: wealth, power, the ability to order Europe/AU around (you can't do that without power and wealth). They're irritated when Americans say USA is the best and most free country in the world. We can argue all day on whether that's true, but I think that's a lesser point.

Liberty is freedom of choice. And we're losing it. Sure, you can choose super size or a potato with that value meal, but can you really live a day without government intrusion?

Answer 5

"What do I mean when I say that we first sought liberty? I sometimes wonder whether we do not rest our hopes too much upon constitutions, upon laws, and upon courts. These are false hopes; believe me, these are false hopes. Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women. When it dies there no constitution, no law, no court can save it. No constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it. While it lies there it needs no constitution, no law, no court to save it. And what is this liberty which must lie in the hearts of men and women? It is not the ruthless, the unbridled will. It is not the liberty to do as one likes. That is the denial of liberty and leads straight to its overthrow. A society in which men know no check upon their liberty soon becomes a society in which liberty is the possession of only a savage few, as we have learned to our sorrow.

And so what is the spirit of liberty? I cannot define it, I can only tell you of my own faith. The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right. The spirit of liberty is the spirit which seeks to understand the minds of other men and women. ..."

Answer 6

Liberty is the state of existance in which a person is free to do whatever it is that enters their mind as long as no one else's rights are infringed upon by such actions.

Answer 7

Liberty, in the american sense, means free to do what youre told, free to think what youre told, and free to get shot by anyone else expressing their liberty

Answer 8

Liberty= making a choice to do what you want without anyone affecting you in any way.

Answer 9

Liberty is linked inextricably with morality... Without morality there can only be a system that substitutes morality. I have recently been studying an in-depth work on morality and its role in society on-line. You can find a copy of it at http://www.users.bigpond.com/smartboard/decline/moral.htm

I don't agree with its deductions completely, but 99.9% correct in my view.

Answer 10

I possess no fear of hunger or poverty and I'll never be a beggar --- Psalm 37.25 I am sort of like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in his season.-.-.-.-and every thing I do prospers .-.-.-.Psalm 1.3 so 'LIVABILITY ' DOESN' T depend on circumstances but on my God I possess vine life where-ever I go -.-.-.john 15.5 Be Blessed Jon

Answer 11

That mean freedom to do anything which is not against the law, and that which does not hurt or infringe the wright of other citizens.