Question

what is different typs of liberty

Answer 1

Liberty: Definition, Features, Types and Essential Safeguards of Liberty!

Of all the rights which are considered fundamental for the development of the personality of the individual, the right to liberty or freedom happens to be most respected and valued. In fact without liberty, i.e. without the freedom to enjoy one’s rights, there can be no real right available to the people. Liberty, as such, is the most cherished and loved right of the people.

I. Liberty: Meaning:

The word “Liberty” stands derived from the Latin word ‘Liber” which means ‘free’. In this sense liberty means freedom from restraints and the freedom to act as one likes. However, in a civil society such a meaning of Liberty is taken to be negative and harmful.



It is only in a jungle that freedom from restraints is available to animals. In a civil society no person can be really permitted to act without restraints. Hence, Liberty is taken to mean the absence of not all restraints but only those restraints which are held to be irrational.

Liberty is usually defined in two ways: Negative Liberty & Positive Liberty:

(A) Negative Liberty:

In its negative sense, Liberty is taken to mean an absence of restraints. It means the freedom to act is any way. In this form liberty becomes a license. Such a meaning of liberty can never be accepted in a civil society. In contemporary times, Negative conception of liberty stands rejected.



(B) Positive Liberty:

In its positive sense, Liberty is taken to mean freedom under rational and logical i.e. restraints which are rational and have stood the test of time. It means liberty under the rational and necessary restraints imposed by law. These restraints are considered essential for ensuring the enjoyment of liberty by all the people. In a civil society only positive liberty can be available to the people.

Positive Liberty means two important things:

1. Liberty is not the absence of restraints; it is the substitution of irrational restraints by rational ones. Liberty means absence of only irrational and arbitrary restraints and not all restraints.

2. Liberty means equal and adequate opportunities for all to enjoy their rights.

II. Liberty: Definition:

(1) “Liberty is the freedom of individual to express, without external hindrances, his personality.” -G.D.H Cole

(2) “Freedom is not the absence of all restraints but rather the substitution of rational ones for the irrational.” -Mckechnie

(3) “Liberty is the existences of those conditions of social life without which no one can in general be at his best self.” “Liberty is the eager maintenance of that atmosphere in which men have the opportunities to be their best-selves.” -Laski

Liberty is the most essential condition for the enjoyment of rights. It is not the absence of restraints. It is the positive condition for the enjoyment of rights. It admits the presence of such rational restraints as satisfy the test of historical experience and reason.

III. Features/Nature of Liberty:



(i) Liberty does not mean the absence of all restraints

(ii) Liberty admits the presence of rational restraints and the absence of irrational restraints.

(iii) Liberty postulates the existence of such conditions as can enable the people to enjoy their rights and develop their personalities.

(iv) Liberty is not a license to do anything and everything. It means the freedom to do only those things which are considered worth-doing or worth-enjoying.

(v) Liberty is possible only in a civil society and not in a state of nature or a ‘state of jungle’. State of anarchy can never be a state, of Liberty.

(vi) Liberty is for all. Liberty means the presence of adequate opportunities for all as can enable them to use their rights.

(vii) In society law is an essential condition of liberty. Law maintains conditions which are essential for the enjoyment of Liberty by all the people of the state.

(viii) Liberty the most fundamental of all the rights.

Answer 2

Types of Liberty:

(1) Natural Liberty:

Traditionally the concept of natural liberty has been very popular. Natural liberty is taken to mean the enjoyment of unrestrained natural freedom. It is justified on the ground that since man is born free, he is to enjoy freedom as he wills. All restraints negate his freedom.
(2) Civil Liberty:
The liberty which each individual enjoys as a member of the society is called civil liberty. It is equally available to all the individuals. All enjoy equal freedom and rights in society. Civil liberty is not unrestrained liberty. It is enjoyed only under some restrictions (Laws and Rules) imposed by the state and society. Civil Liberty is the very opposite of Natural liberty. Whereas Natural Liberty denounces the presence of restraints of any kind, Civil Liberty accepts the presence of some rational restraints imposed by the State and Society.

(3) Political Liberty:

Good and adequate opportunities for using political rights by the people are defined as political liberty. When the people have the freedom of participation in the political process, it is held that they enjoy political liberty.



(4) Individual Liberty/ Personal Liberty:

Individual liberty means the freedom to pursue one’s desires and interests as a person, but which do not clash with the interests or desires of others. The freedom of speech and expression, freedom of residence, freedom of movement, freedom of conscience, freedom of tastes and pursuits, freedom to choose any profession or trade or occupation, the freedom to enjoy the fruits of one’s labour, the right to personal property, the freedom to profess or not to profess any religion, and freedom to accept or not to accept any ideology, all fall under the category of individual freedom. However, all these freedoms are to be exercised in a way as does not hinder the equal freedom of others as well as does not violate public order, health and morality.

(5) Economic Liberty:

Laski defines economic liberty as freedom from the wants of tomorrow and availability of adequate opportunities for earning the livelihood. It stands for freedom from poverty, unemployment and the ability to enjoy at least three basic minimum needs — food, clothing and shelter. Laski writes, “Economic Liberty means security and opportunity to find reasonable significance in the earning of one’s daily bread”.
(6) National Liberty:

National liberty is another name for independence of the nation
(7) Religious Liberty:

It means the freedom to profess or not to profess any religion. It means the freedom of faith and worship and non-intervention of State in religious affairs of the people.

(8) Moral Liberty:

It means the freedom to act according to one’s conscience. It stands for the liberty to work for securing moral self-perfection. Freedom to pursue moral values is moral freedom