ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors learn that although capitalism may include great inequalities of wealth and income, increasing crime rates and other misfortunes it is still the best model of a free society where there is an equal distribution of individual freedom. The assumption that humans are naturally free makes and focusing exclusively on freedom of action makes it difficult to give an adequate account of personal freedom. It is the hybrid view, which starts to challenge this framework by focusing on 'free choice' and free agency. Surprisingly, the hybrid view ignores two fundamental factors that can limit freedom of choice; poverty restricts the scope of choice and ignorance is a barrier to informed choice. The strictly individualistic understanding of freedom shared by the negative and the hybrid views makes it impossible to talk about the objective social conditions for freedom.
