Chapter 2 — Freedom

The chapter defines freedom in two ways. First, as the absence of external constraints — an individual is free when not subject to external controls or coercion and can make independent decisions. Second, freedom also means expanding the ability of people to freely express themselves and develop their potential. Both aspects — absence of constraint and enabling conditions for development — are considered important dimensions of freedom.

The harm principle was stated by John Stuart Mill in his essay On Liberty. It holds that the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of society against their will is to prevent harm to others. Mill distinguishes between self-regarding actions (only affecting the individual, where the state has no business to interfere) and other-regarding actions (affecting others, where external interference may be justified). Serious harm justifies legal constraint; minor harm should attract only social disapproval, not the force of law.

Negative liberty seeks to define and defend a minimum area in which the individual would be inviolable and free from external interference — it is concerned with 'freedom from'. Positive liberty is concerned with 'freedom to' — it focuses on the conditions and nature of the relationship between the individual and society, aiming to improve these conditions so that the individual can develop their personality fully. Negative liberty is concerned with the inviolable area of non-interference, while positive liberty is concerned with enabling conditions such as access to material resources, political participation, and education.

Swaraj is a concept in Indian political thought analogous to freedom. The term combines 'Swa' (Self) and 'Raj' (Rule), meaning both the rule of the self and rule over the self. In the context of India's freedom struggle it referred to freedom as a constitutional and political demand and as a social-collective value — inspiring Tilak's statement 'Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it'. Gandhi in Hind Swaraj (1909) emphasised Swaraj as self-rule, stating 'It is Swaraj when we learn to rule ourselves', seeing it as liberation that redeems self-respect, self-responsibility, and capacities for self-realisation.

The chapter argues that without any constraints society would descend into chaos, since people have differing ideas, conflicting ambitions, and compete for scarce resources. Constraints are necessary to control violence and settle disputes. Even in a free society where people hold their own views and pursue their choices, some constraints — at minimum the willingness to respect differences of views, opinions, and beliefs — are required so that no group coercively imposes its views on another.

The chapter identifies two main sources of constraints. First, domination and external controls imposed by force or by government through laws — such as colonial rule or the apartheid system in South Africa. Second, constraints can result from social inequality implicit in the caste system or from extreme economic inequality in a society. The chapter notes a quotation from Subhas Chandra Bose drawing attention to the need to remove such constraints through all-round freedom — political, social, and economic.

Nelson Mandela's autobiography Long Walk to Freedom describes his personal struggle against the apartheid regime in South Africa. The apartheid system imposed a body of constraints that discriminated between citizens based on race — Black people were bundled into townships, denied easy movement, and denied a free choice of whom to marry. Mandela and his colleagues struggled against these unjust constraints. For this cause, Mandela spent 27 years in prison, often in solitary confinement.

Aung San Suu Kyi, inspired by Gandhiji's thoughts on non-violence, remained under house arrest in Myanmar for her people's freedom. Her book of essays is titled Freedom from Fear. She stated, 'for me real freedom is freedom from fear and unless you can live free from fear you cannot live a dignified human life.' She saw her personal freedom as connected to the freedom of her people.

The chapter explains that in India's constitutional discussions the term used for justifiable constraints on freedom is 'reasonable restrictions'. Such restrictions must be capable of being defended by reason, not excessive, and not out of proportion to the action being restricted. If a restriction impinges on the general condition of freedom in society it would not qualify as reasonable. The chapter warns that developing a habit of imposing restrictions is detrimental to freedom.

Mill offered four reasons in On Liberty. First, no idea is completely false — even seemingly false ideas contain an element of truth. Second, truth does not emerge by itself but only through a conflict of opposing views. Third, this conflict of ideas has continuing value for all times, since truth always runs the risk of becoming an unthinking cliché unless exposed to opposing views. Fourth, we cannot be certain that what we consider true is actually true — ideas suppressed as false have later proved to be valuable, so suppressing them runs the danger of losing potentially important knowledge.

The chapter explains that as a political ideology, liberalism has been identified with tolerance. What is distinctive about modern liberalism is its focus on the individual — for liberals, entities like family, society, and community have value only if valued by individuals. Liberals tend to give priority to individual liberty over values like equality and are suspicious of political authority. Historically, liberalism favoured free markets and a minimal role for the state, though present-day liberalism acknowledges a role for the welfare state and accepts the need for measures to reduce social and economic inequalities.

Mill distinguishes between self-regarding actions — those whose consequences fall only on the individual actor — and other-regarding actions — those whose consequences also affect others. With respect to self-regarding actions, the state or any external authority has no business to interfere. With respect to other-regarding actions, where the actions may cause harm to others, there is a case for external interference. However, even then only serious harm justifies the force of law; minor harm (such as playing loud music in an apartment building) should attract only social disapproval.

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