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Ancient wisdom
The three freedoms of the Cynics
Cynic philosophers recognized three related and interdependent concepts of freedom, and we would do well to do the same
“What is the most beautiful thing in the world?” “Freedom,” replied Diogenes of Sinope. (Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, VI.69)
These days there is much talk of freedom, and just as little understanding of what it is and what it entails. Especially in the United States, certain people seem to conceive of freedom as the ability to act unimpeded in life. “It’s a free country!,” they proudly shout, and promptly proceed to engage in one obnoxious behavior or another, such as not wearing an antiviral mask on public transport, even when mandated by law.
This kind of freedom is referred to by philosophers as “negative,” in the sense that it hinges on non-interference by others. We do, in fact, enjoy several negative freedoms. For instance, when I’m in my apartment in New York I have ample freedom to do or not to do what I wish. But of course my negative freedoms have limits, even within my own home. I cannot blast music at 3am, because that interferes on other people’s negative freedoms, like the freedom of my neighbors to get a good night sleep.
Moreover, the philosopher Isaiah Berlin, back in 1958, introduced the contrastive concept of positive freedoms, which lie in the possession of the resources and power necessary to fulfill one’s wishes. For example, consider the right to travel. It could be construed simply as a negative freedom: my government says that I can leave the country any time I want. But if the same government does not actually allow me to get a passport it will be very difficult for me to actually leave. Being provided with a passport turns the negative but useless “freedom” to leave into an actual possibility to travel.
So the problem with a focus on negative freedoms is twofold: on the one hand, people who keep shouting about them tend not to consider that with every right comes some responsibility toward others. On the other hand, many negative freedoms are pointless or severely blunted if they are not accompanied by corresponding positive freedoms.
