POLI 231 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Henry David Thoreau, Limited Government, Political Freedom
30 Jan 2017
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Key issue: freedom/ liberty, 3 kinds of freedom, liberal freedom: Absence of external constraints (no prison/ no handcuffs) There are threats/ laws that stop you from doing certain. These laws stand in the way of your freedom, restrains actions like killing you: republican freedom: (political freedom) In the process of decolonisation people were free. You live under your own laws, laws in which you had the right to participate in the decision to pass them: spiritual freedom: (self mastery) You are free if you have mastered yourself. You need to overcome your internal constraints (eg: fear of public speech) and not to succumb to peer pressure in order to have self mastery. If you have any internal constraints, you don"t have. This thought is emphasised in religion spiritual freedom: libertarianism / anarchism: and full freedom in you actions. A state where there is limited influence from the government: thoreau: libertarian of sorts: limited government.
