ABSTRACT
Freedom has fallen out of favor in contemporary political philosophy. The reasons for this are certainly complex: among them, the increased attention paid to theories of justice and democracy that has displaced the narrower focus on liberty; and politically, the egregious misuse of the notion of liberty or freedom by figures like former President George W. Bush, along with the triumph (until very recently) of neoliberalism and its emphasis on “free markets,” which have pushed alternative notions of freedom to the sidelines. Additionally, the growing recognition of the need to take seriously other cultures and their diverse theoretical perspectives, with the greater emphasis they tend to place on the values of community and of social interdependence, may have contributed to the marginalization of discussions of individual liberty and its various interpretations. Given the centrality of freedom to political thought, however, it is helpful to revisit the notion of freedom on the occasion the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Isaiah Berlin’s “Two Concepts of Liberty,” and to consider the contemporary significance of this conception.
