ABSTRACT
Thisnineteenth-centurythoughtbothreflecteditsageand transcendedit.Initstake-offfromindividualfreedomandits strugglestoconstructanorderinwhichfreedomwouldbean essentialandrealingredient,itunderlinedtheactualaspirationsofordinarymeninthisperiod.Thosewriters,ontheone hand,who,likeHumboldt,Ricardo,Tocqueville,Mill,and Spencer,heldthatinthelastanalysisfreedomwithinthenatural andsocialordercouldbeassertedonlyasindividualspheresof freedom,wereparticularlyintunewiththeactualconflictsof theday.Ontheotherhand,however,theinsistencebywriters likeComte,Mazzini,andMarxontheextensionofindividual freedomintoasocialfreedomwhichwouldsimultaneouslyperfectindividualfreedomandtransformi t fromanexclusive sphereintoajointco-operationundoubtedlywentbeyondthe consciousnessoftheirageandanticipatedthefuture.Theconnectionwiththepreoccupationsoftheircontemporarieslayin thehomologousrelationshipofthepioneersocialfreedomto theprevalentnotionsofpoliticalandnationalliberties,forboth involvedthemutualcommunityratherthanthereciprocaldelimitationofrights.Butwherethepoliticalandnationalfreedamsweregenerallyviewedasguaranteesofindividualpersonal andcivillibertiesandmightormightnotbedeemedasessentialextensionsoffreedominthemselves,thenewapplication ofcollectivefreedomtoextrapoliticalactivitiesendoweditwith
Stagesi n t h e H i s t o r y o f P o l i t i c a l F r e e d o m 23 aprimevalue,evensuperiortoindividualspheresofliberty, whichweredeemedatbestinsecureandoftenoppressive.
