Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- I The Fundamental Problem
- PART ONE SOCIAL ORDER AND SOCIAL MORALITY
- PART TWO REAL PUBLIC REASON
- V The Justificatory Problem and the Deliberative Model
- VI The Rights of the Moderns
- VII Moral Equilibrium and Moral Freedom
- VIII The Moral and Political Orders
- Concluding Remarks on Moral Freedom and Moral Theory
- Appendix A The Plurality of Morality
- Appendix B Economic Freedom in States that Best Protect Civil Rights
- Bibliography
- Index
VI - The Rights of the Moderns
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 May 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- I The Fundamental Problem
- PART ONE SOCIAL ORDER AND SOCIAL MORALITY
- PART TWO REAL PUBLIC REASON
- V The Justificatory Problem and the Deliberative Model
- VI The Rights of the Moderns
- VII Moral Equilibrium and Moral Freedom
- VIII The Moral and Political Orders
- Concluding Remarks on Moral Freedom and Moral Theory
- Appendix A The Plurality of Morality
- Appendix B Economic Freedom in States that Best Protect Civil Rights
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
First ask yourself, Gentlemen, what an Englishman, a Frenchman, and a citizen of the United States of America understand today by the word “liberty.”
For each of them it is the right to be subjected only to the laws, and to be neither arrested, detained, put to death or maltreated in any way by the arbitrary will of one or more individuals. It is the right of everyone to express their opinion, choose a profession and practice it, to dispose of property, and even to abuse it; to come and go without permission, and without having to account for their motives or undertakings. It is everyone's right to associate with other individuals, whether to discuss their interests, or to profess the religion which they and their associates prefer, or even simply to occupy their days or hours in a way which is most compatible with their inclinations or whims. Finally, it is everyone's right to exercise some influence on the administration of government, either by electing all or particular officials, or through representations, petitions, demands to which authorities are more or less required to pay heed.
Benjamin Constant, “The Liberty of the Ancients Compared with that of the Moderns”The previous chapter introduced a deliberative model, which took seriously the cognitive limits of Members of the Public and, especially their diverse bases for evaluating proposed moral rules.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Order of Public ReasonA Theory of Freedom and Morality in a Diverse and Bounded World, pp. 334 - 388Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010