ABSTRACT
In the vocabulary of political thought, the two words “freedom” and “liberty” are interchangeable. Although there has been a tendency in the English-speaking world to treat “liberty” as “something French, foolish and frivolous,” and “freedom” as “English, solid, and sensible,” there is no ground whatever for the distinction. In persistent usage, it is significant to note, freedom and liberty have had negative and positive features. Both have meant exemption or release from bondage, servitude, and arbitrary power—as among the ancient Romans and the early English. Witnesses for freedom start with a conviction respecting human nature, for it is with the human beings, not material things, that they are primarily concerned. They assume and believe that the human being is, in fact, not a mere beast of the field despite all the animal characteristics which unite humanity with the animal kingdom.
