PHIL2634 Study Guide - Final Guide: Montesquieu, Judiciary, Liberal Democracy
Document Summary
Liberty political liberty, as he defined it, is simply the state in which one man has no fear of another in relation to his safety as an individual. Montesquieu states in the spirit of the laws that political liberty can only be attained by introducing a series of checks and balances on the government to limit its powers. An all-powerful government will inevitably seek to use its powers to invade upon the property of its inhabitants. In governments, that is, in societies directed by laws, liberty can consist only in the power of doing what we ought to will, and in not being constrained to do what we ought not to will. The political liberty of the subject is a tranquillity of mind arising from the opinion each person has of his safety . Again, there is no liberty, if the judiciary power be not separated from the legislative and executive.
