ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the forms of the private, some of them seen as having aspects of intimacy and others not, in human involvements which tend to be assimilated to the concept of freedom typically developed within a liberal perspective, though similar views have found a place in other perspectives. It focuses on that area of private actions, relations, and beliefs marked off because the element of freedom in them is often thought to carry a special value, either instrumentally or, more interestingly, noninstrumentally. The chapter provides the comparison of two main types of belief in the value of freedom, instrumental and noninstrumental. It considers the society of conflict between the claims of private freedom, its value conceived noninstrumentally, and those of public policy, such as the promotion of justice, or welfare, or social solidarity. The chapter shows how a certain rationale of a human involvement, such as marriage or friendship, explains the anti-interference, and specifically anti-politicization, position of liberalism.
