ABSTRACT
The main issue of debate among defenders of negative freedom is the scope of constraints on freedom. This chapter argues that D. Miller's account is superior to others in so far as he introduces the normative dimension of freedom by presenting moral obligations as the criterion of freedom. Analysing the difficulties in Miller's attempt to extend the scope of constraints it reveals the limits of the negative view. The chapter shows that the negative view either denies that there can be economic obstacles to freedom on the basis of a narrow conception of coercion, or it accepts that some economic obstacles can constrain freedom, but fails to give an adequate account of this issue. In Steiner's sense of freedom as physical possibility anybody is free to buy nearly anything by resorting to crime. For Steiner, freedom does not have degrees and it is independent of any subjective elements.
