Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Isaiah Berlin is considered as one of the most outstanding researchers of the concept of freedom. His distinction between “positive” and “negative freedom” is still one of the foundations of any reflection related to human freedom. The aim of this article is to prove the research thesis that the dichotomy of the concept of freedom presented by Berlin may lead to the danger of misreading the concept of “positive freedom” as a source justifying the emergence and development of authoritarian and totalitarian theories. The research area is limited to Berlin’s considerations contained in the essay “Two Concepts of Freedom”. In order to correctly prove the presented thesis, it is necessary to define both key concepts of freedom (“negative and positive”), at the same time bringing closer Berlin’s dichotomy of the “higher and lower self”, the interpretation of which made in the spirit of the metaphysics of rationality may lead to the justification of praising social relations based on the complete subordination of human will of people not guided by reason. The article is based on the research method consisting in the analysis of the source text enriched with references to the subject literature.
Author: Olgierd Górecki
Institution: University of Łódź
Language: English
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7117748767