Freedom as Non-Constraint: Beyond Non-Interference and Non-Domination - Hardcover

Rainbolt, George W.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 3031611802 ISBN 13: 9783031611803

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, 2024

Synopsis

When is a person free to do something? The focus of much of the recent work on this question has been the debate between those who defend freedom as non-interference (aka liberals) and those who defend freedom as non-domination (aka republicans). This book defends a new answer to this question, freedom as non-constraint. According to freedom as non-constraint, both interference and domination cause unfreedom, both human and natural constraints cause unfreedom, and both controlled and uncontrolled interference cause unfreedom. Compared to liberal and republican theories, freedom as non-constraint provides a better account of systemic and structural threats to freedom, a better picture of how market forces and governments impact freedom, and a better understanding of how the natural world constrains freedom. Freedom as non-constraint also provides a new account of the scalarity of freedom and points to the limits on our ability to measure freedom with precision.

About this title

About the Author

George W. Rainbolt is Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Florida (USA), where he has also served as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. He is the author of The Concept of Rights (Springer 2006).

From the Back Cover

When is a person free to do something? The focus of much of the recent work on this question has been the debate between those who defend freedom as non-interference (aka liberals) and those who defend freedom as non-domination (aka republicans). This book defends a new answer to this question, freedom as non-constraint. According to freedom as non-constraint, both interference and domination cause unfreedom, both human and natural constraints cause unfreedom, and both controlled and uncontrolled interference cause unfreedom. Compared to liberal and republican theories, freedom as non-constraint provides a better account of systemic and structural threats to freedom, a better picture of how market forces and governments impact freedom, and a better understanding of how the natural world constrains freedom. Freedom as non-constraint also provides a new account of the scalarity of freedom and points to the limits on our ability to measure freedom with precision.

George W. Rainbolt is Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Florida (USA), where he has also served as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. He is the author of The Concept of Rights (Springer 2006).

Edition details

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Publication date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3031611802
• ISBN 13: 9783031611803
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 226