...Distinguish between positive and negative freedom. Both classical liberals and modern liberals priorities freedom, however have different views to what freedom really is. While modern liberals don't reject negative freedom all together there are still certain beliefs that they disagree with. The long-term goal of both classic liberals and modern liberals is to promote individual autonomy. During the course of this essay i will explore the different beliefs that both liberals believe in and define positive and negative freedom. Negative freedom is the absence of external constraints on the individual. It is the belief that people should be able to act in the way they please (for example, free speech). This is a belief supported strongly by classical liberals however, there are similar ideas supported by modern liberals. Classical liberals believe this to be a good thing as the more negative freedom you have, the more ability you have to do what it is you desire. Charles taylor defined negative freedom as an ‘opportunity concept’ of freedom. This is the idea that negative freedom give you access to a whole range of opportunities which give the individual freedom of choice to whether one takes advantage of these opportunities or not. Negative freedom, however, is not a practical policy in society. While it may sound beneficial, it leave the question to whether you are truly free if someone elses freedom inflicts upon yours. As a result limited state intervention...
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...Revolution” is mainly focused at the Civil War and how Lincoln was involved in most of the changes that happen during the War, For example the political and social issues, and the slaves that were liberated in the south. In this book McPherson tells us that president Lincoln was a conservative and a revolutionary. The War made Lincoln very popular because of his leadership ability and strategy. He is the most important president who fought to keep young stay whole. James McPherson best known for his prize winning book “Battle cry of Freedom,” which was the New York Times Book Review called one of top history writing. It is an account of the Civil War, which McPherson gathered in a sweep of events, which accounts the political, social, and culture aspects during the Civil War. In Abraham Lincoln and the Second Revolution, McPherson takes a different style of writing by offering a series of engaging essays on Lincoln and the Civil War that have rarely been discussed in such depth. McPherson displays his insight prose as he thoroughly examines the critical- themes of American history. He examines the President’s role as commander- in -chief of the Union forces explaining how Lincoln forged a national military strategy for victory. He exposes how Lincoln used parables and figurative language to communicate the purpose of the War as well as a new meaning of liberty for the people of the North. The title derives from McPherson...
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...excited, happy, angry, anxious, even they are just talking about what the weather is like today. It is the right to say them or not. And most people have touch with bad words since little, maybe at age of 12 or at the age that cannot remember things. But in this essay "cuss time", the author Jill McCorkel has an activity with his 8-year-old son, and the son has freedom to have a speech in the activity. The essay is to describe freedom of speech, and not only about speech, about thoughts and ideas. People always tell the other people what should not say or what should not to do, furthermore this means we draw a circle for ourselves which we need to stay in. McCorkel let readers know that "We build a world around negatives -you can't say [...] then you can get away from a lot of things." One of the most common "negative" things in the world is teaching children not to use "bad words". In order to express freedom of "bad words", I believe this essay is more about freedom, freedom of talking, freedom of behaving, freedom of thinking. She is trying to make her viewpoint, let people talk freely, do things freely, think freely, make the circle disappear, make the world we built disappear. When I first read this essay, it remained me one thing in my childhood. I remember I was around 11 years old or 12 years old, I started to hear some "bad words" in school and from my friends. Also like other kids did, I started to say "bad words", of course, it depended on who I was talking...
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...Government Promote Positive Liberty? The idea of liberty, or freedom, varies between different theorists. One theorist, Isaiah Berlin, focused on the difference between two different ways of thinking about political liberty (Cherniss & Hardy, 2010). Berlin called these two different concepts negative and positive liberty. According to Berlin, negative freedom can be defined as ‘freedom from’, that is, freedom from constraint or interference of others. In contrast, positive freedom can be defined in two ways: ‘freedom to’, that is the ability to pursue and achieve willed goals; and also as autonomy or self-rule, as opposed to the dependence on others (Cherniss & Hardy, 2010). Keeping the idea of positive liberty at the forefront, this essay will focus on what positive liberty is and whether the government should promote it. As already mentioned, positive liberty can be defined as the ‘freedom to’ (Cherniss & Hardy, 2010). Smith (2008) adds that positive liberty is “the idea of self-government”. Under positive liberty, a person may decide how they wish to live, but they may unconsciously conform to the beliefs of society, religion or their parents (Smith, 2008). Positive liberty asks the question of “Who, or what, is the source of control or interference?” (Garner et al., 2012). Positive liberty therefore emphasizes the source of control, rather than the area of control associated with negative liberty (Garner, Ferdinand & Lawsom, 2012). Positive liberty is the...
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...The Freedom Writers Diary is a book that I truly enjoyed. It is a book broken down in diary form viewing the survival of a first year teacher and her students. This book shines light on real issues that these students as well as their teacher went through. These issues range from racism, death, and gang related violence. Although the only person that is named throughout the entire book is Ms. Gruwell, one can still identify and keep track of the situations that occur. Diary number two, by far was the most prevalent in my opinion. It gave the viewpoint of a white male student in a class where he was the minority. “What the hell am I doing in here? I’m the only white person in this English class! …Is this really where I’m supposed to be?” (P.8) This student made it clear that he felt really uncomfortable in a class full of “rejects”. Since most of the “rejects” were not white, he felt he shouldn’t have been in that class. The “rejects”, as he called them, were students that were labeled as problem students and or students with learning disabilities. Although this student had a learning disability, he felt that because of his race, he should have been placed in a high level class. Like many others he 2 authors .... These two essays are very similar because their subject .... to that improvident avarice..." These are writers who have .... work soon after he got his freedom and was .... (642 3 ) Kate...
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...modern liberals claim that they are simply adapting and building on classical liberalist ideas. This essay will discuss the extent to which modern liberalism departs from classical liberalisms by analysing approaches to the size of the state, democracy and the concept of freedom and aims to justify the argument that modern liberalism departs considerably from classical liberalism. Modern liberalism departs from the ideas of classical liberalism with regards to the concept of freedom, although the extent of difference is limited. Isiah Berlin first discussed the concept of freedom in an essay published in 1958. Berlin proposed two concepts of liberty; positive, which is supported by modern liberalists, and negative, which is supported by classical liberals. The classical conception of negative liberty suggests that society is best when there is an absence of external restrictions or constraints on the individual. Therefore, classical liberals strongly supported full individual freedom. John Stuart Mill, a political philosopher known as the ‘father of classical liberalism’ argued that the government is controlling the actions of individuals for no reason. He therefore developed a theory of ‘true freedom’ based on the complete absence of constraint and therefore he supports Berlin’s concept of negative liberty. Further classical liberals who argued for the theory of negative liberty include John Locke and Jeremy Bentham....
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...Imperialism essay Imperialism is when a stronger country takes over the weaker countries for reasons such as for political, social or economic. Imperialism has been a major form in shaping the modern world. The effects of imperialism have been interpreted by many different views. The major imperialism occurred during the late 19th century and early 20th century, and had more negative effects in the modern world than the positive. One of its positive side is seen in document 4, where we can see that they were part of a modern culture and the colonial owners were responsible for providing security for a person and his or her land. They were also responsible for the opening of region to the lumberman, miner, and planter to the colony. After this occurred, they were considered part of a modern day culture. A negative effect is seen in document one where it says the white rulers live at the expense of the natives. Took their territory by force, and the most fertile land and minerals re owned by the whites. In this document you can see that the colonies did he work while the white man sat and watched. They had no freedom and had to sit in the mother country and work. Another negative effect is seen in document 2 when it said “civilization was nothing less than savagery”.in this quote you can see that the colonists make themselves superior to the blacks indicating that whatever the blacked do for civilization is savagery and that brought down their self-confidence. In document 3...
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...implied the nature of humankind as a diverse species should be viewed as a strength. The idea of Freedom and protection of individual rights is also common of both strands. These beliefs stem from the Enlightenment theory that individuals are distinct and valuable, with John Locke defines our (God-given) natural rights as "Life, liberty and property". Immanuel Kant views humans as "ends in themselves", implying that and he makes two implications; that individuals are unique, and that they share the same equal status. The general liberal view is that people should have the freedom to do what they want; to live and work and say what they wish. This is not absolute and Mill says in is essay 'On Liberty' that the "only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of civilized community against his will, is to prevent harm to others." This view only accepted minimal restrictions to prevent this and thus did not accept self-harm preventing restrictions that are apparent today such as cycle helmet or seatbelt laws. Isiah Berlin explains that there are two "different concepts of Liberty": 'negative', which typically reflects an earlier time period and bases its principles purely on the absence of external restrictions and constraints, and 'positive', which focuses on the autonomous nature of the individual and follows Mill's argument that liberty is more than just freedom from restrictions, but also man's capacity to develop and achieve self-realization and gain...
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......the day of the philosopher as isolated thinker--the talented amateur with an idiosyncratic message--is effectively gone. | ” | —Nicholas Rescher, "American Philosophy Today," 'Review of Metaphysics' 46 (4 | It is possible to believe at something which could or couldn’t be true. Atheism is an example of this something. Atheists claim that there is no God because the evidence they experience shows that God is not real; however, to have a static claim as strong as atheism is anti-scientific: because the belief itself lacks foundation associated with our ‘natural laws’ and thus, having a set belief that is static is counter scientific spirit which contradicts that base of atheistic claim. Thus, to be an atheist using scientific claims as basis is illogical; however, this doesn’t mean that a person cant be an atheist; but only that person who claims to be an atheist because of scientific reasoning is wrong in his assumptions. atheists say there is no God, but before you can deny something, you must first affirm its existence, as a rule... in saying there is NO God, you actually affirm there is one. Hence I must conclude that the answer to our openeng question is a simple and flat no. No, it is not necessary for a truly contemporary person to be an atheist or to disbelieve in the existence of God. And I find no arguments, no reasons, no evidence or facts, not in Bishop Robinson's writings, nor in Bishop Pike's, nor in the writings of Tillich, Bultmann, and Bonhoeffer, or in...
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...Why is the concept of freedom so contested in political theory? (Word maximum: 1,500) Freedom is an important concept in Western politics, strongly entwined as it is with ideas of liberalism. Yet, as suggested by the question, the concept is one which is hotly debated. Indeed, political agents attempt to control the political agenda through promotion of their particular definition. This essay will look at the ways freedom has been defined by different theorists over the years. It will also look at how freedom is linked with and explained through different theo-ries and ideologies. It will then go on to look at how these different theories and ideologies may shape the conceptions of freedom we find in our daily lives. Different political theorists, writing in different times, often of political turmoil, have considered freedom in many different ways. Three influential writers who took a normative approach were Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. An important part of their arguments turned on their notions of a ‘state of nature’ – where natural law applied in absence of any organised political state. Hobbes (1651, cited in Brown, 2005), writing shortly after the English Civil War, argued that in a ‘state of nature’ individuals would be fearful for their own interests, resulting inevitably in war of all against all. To obviate this, Hobbes suggested that individuals should voluntarily accept restrictions – and invest their will in an absolute power...
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...American flag. Ronald J. Allen has also contributed on his essay American Flag Stands for Tolerance published in June 30, 1989. He argues that he understands how the situation might be controversial to some, but eventually it is one’s right as an American citizen to be able to express oneself easily, even though the idea may not be well-liked or the action itself is extreme, through logos, ethos, and pathos, figurative language, and diction. One way how the author establishes his opinion is through logos, ethos, and pathos, which appeals to the audience. For example, Allen uses logos in Lines 1-4, “The Supreme Court, by the closest possible margin of a 5-to-4 vote, held that a person has a right to express disagreement with governmental police by burning the American flag,” and Lines 5-7, “The leadership of the People’s Republic of China decided that citizens who peacefully express...
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...postmodern society. We do not depend on each other and we go our own ways. If we fall, others might catch us, but not necessarily. We are left with freedom to choose whatever we want of life. It is expected that we create our own footprints. Freedom is beautiful, but with freedom, also comes a great responsibility; the responsibility of our own life. Freedom can lead to loneliness, and sometimes even lead to a fear of going in the wrong direction. In the short story “A Gap of Sky”, the author Anna hope uses the narrative technique with a stream of consciousness to give us an insight into the young protagonist Ellies mind, as she walks through the urban setting of London, where her confused mind makes her lose herself in the many choices and decisions. * Topic sentence for the 1st paragraph The author allows the setting to take a symbolical meaning, when Anna Hope uses the urban setting of London, and how that affects Ellie’s way of taking choices. The story takes place in the streets of London; an urban setting Throughout the short story it is clear that Ellie is tired of education, things she has to do and expectations. She knows that she has to write the essay in order to stay on the course, but she is not quite sure for whom she is doing it. Her life seem to be an eternal search for freedom, and it is exactly the word “freedom” that is repeated through the story. In this quote; ”She doesn’t know where she is going maybe the river, yes, the river is what she needs, to...
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...Fire with Fire (Fahrenheit 451 Essay) The book "Fahrenheit 451" is an interesting, fearful and full of suspense kind of novel. The author is Ray Bradbury. Ray Bradbury introduces the theme of fear in "Fahrenheit 451." The theme is censorship. Ray Bradbury uses literary devices, negative historical symbols, and positive historical spokesman in so many ways to inform the background or other ways as the title, author, and the short summary. Emotional Tones Ray Bradbury uses a lot of literary devices in "Excerpt #1" by stating the "special pleasure" also "blackened and changed" when they saw the burns the fire left. Including the "great python" letting the "venomous kerosene upon the world." This might come back to "Fahrenheit 451' because it is little important parts from the novel. However, in the next excerpt Montag changes by starting to realize how much kerosene he used and what...
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...with power over others are apt to abuse it for their benefit and at the expense of others. Liberal constitutionalism is expressed through support for various external and internal devices, such as codified constitutions, bills of rights, the separation of powers, federalism or devolution, and so on. Liberal support for consent is evident in support for electoral democracy in general and, more specifically, sympathy for referendums and proportional representation. 2. Distinguish between negative freedom and positive freedom, and explain the implications of each for the state. (Jun 02) Negative freedom is the absence of external constraints upon the individual, usually understood as non-interference. It is manifest in freedom of choice and consistent with privacy. Negative freedom implies rolling back the state, because the state as a compulsory and coercive body is by definition an offence against freedom. Positive freedom can be variously defined as self-mastery, linking freedom to democracy, or as personal growth and self-realisation, the achievement of individual potential....
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...you can handle everything. But being young is not always as easy as it sounds, because even though freedom is right beside you, expectations and responsibility is only a few steps behind you; catching up on you and bringing you back to reality. Drugs and freedom are some of the themes in the short story “A Gap of Sky” by Anna Hope from 2008. Ellie is a nineteen year old teenager who lives in London and studies on a university. She lives in a college, because in the beginning of the story she has to walk down the corridor to the hall toilet. Ellie does not care about her education at all, and it is clear that she blames her parents for going at the university. She is tired of things she has to do. She knows that she has an essay to write that is due to the next day, and she has already extended it quite a few times. We are told that she received a letter from the course she is taking, at the UCL, explaining that she will be expelled from the course, if she does not hand over this essay. With this letter in our minds and other facts, like doing drugs, drinking, going out rather often gives us the impression that she doesn’t care about her education, and that she wants to be more free than she is. Ellie knows that there is more to life than studies and duties, and she prefers drugs, cigarettes and booze, when it comes to living her life to its fullest and to get the feeling of freedom. When she walks down the streets in London in order to get some ink for her printer, she touches...
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