ABSTRACT
T. H. Green’s theory of liberty channels some of Berlin’s own most significant concerns, like the loss of liberty due to moral blackmail and exploitation. Green’s progressive ideas in Lecture on “Liberal Legislation and Freedom of Contract” have not been sufficiently well internalised in the critical portrayal of his conceptualisation of liberty. Green’s all-inclusive vision of formal freedom could be explained if we took into account his understanding of moral responsibility. The reason he argues that we are formally free even when we are bad, that is, wilfully not making an effort to pursue goals that combine personal and common good, is because only thus he can make the claim that we are always morally responsible. Green’s arguments against the old liberals’ insistence on self-reliance are arguments that, among other things, aim to establish such an internal boundary.
