ABSTRACT
Freedom is perhaps the most widely invoked value in contemporary society, though it is understood in many different ways. It should be clear by now that republicanism is more than a call for extended social responsibility. Civic republican thought addresses the problem of how interdependent humans can be free. This has two dimensions – what do we mean by freedom in a social context, and what follows for the shape and extent of legitimate government? But a variety of republican conceptions of freedom have been advanced. Some are closer to the negative conception of noninterference; others, contrasted to slavery, are closer to self-mastery. Political freedom has been expressed sometimes in terms of the rule of law, sometimes in terms of political participation. Does freedom as collective self-government necessarily clash with individual freedom?
