I. Freedom and subject freedom (civil freedom)
The word "freedom" has three meanings in Modern Chinese Dictionary: ① the right to act according to one's own will within the scope prescribed by law; (2) Philosophically, people know the regularity of the development of things and consciously apply it to practice, which is freedom; ③ Unlimited and unlimited. [2] In the article, we intercepted its first meaning.
In Leviathan, Hobbes defines the literal meaning of freedom as follows: in its original meaning, the word "freedom" refers to the state without obstacles, and the so-called obstacles refer to the external obstacles of movement, which can also be applied to irrational and lifeless creations. [3] This explanation is close to the third explanation in Modern Chinese Dictionary. But Hobbes also emphasized that freedom here lies in the movement of things. In his view, things without movement will not be hindered, so there is no freedom or no freedom. [4] So freedom is relative to people. To illustrate this problem, he also gave a very vivid example: when we say that a road is free, we don't mean the freedom of the road itself, but only that people walking on this road are unimpeded. [5] On this basis, Hobbes came to the concept of "free man": the so-called free man refers to a person who does what he wants without hindrance by virtue of his own will, desire or intention. [6]
To sum up, we draw the following conclusion: Freedom means that someone can do something freely without some restrictions. [7] The above is an analysis of the concept of freedom. Next, let's look at what is the freedom of the subject.
Two. The expression of people's freedom
As mentioned above, Hobbes believes that people have the freedom to do what their reason thinks is best for them, as long as it is within the scope not stipulated by law. At the same time, he also listed some freedoms, such as buying and selling or other contractual behaviors; Free choice of residence, diet and occupation; Educate children about their freedom in the way they think fit, and so on. In his view, all voluntary acts that are not regulated by law are forms of freedom.
Hobbes also pointed out that no matter what kind of freedom people enjoy, they cannot and will not conflict with supreme sovereignty. [15] In addition, sovereignty is composed of rights that people give up. If the freedom enjoyed by the people conflicts with sovereignty, it means that it is against itself. But he also mentioned that although sovereignty is supreme, he can't order his subjects to kill or hurt themselves, and order them to admit his crimes (unless he is guaranteed to be forgiven). [16] I think this view is the highlight of his thought, which also shows that he has a strong concept of human rights.
Hobbes made an extended explanation of the form of free expression, which will lead to the dissatisfaction of others and the relative instability of society because of the different personal qualities and doing what he thinks is most beneficial to himself. Legal rights can just make up for the above shortcomings. Even if these rights are restricted. [17] With legal rights, people's behavior can be completely controlled by the sovereign. Sovereigns don't have to worry that people will create freedom of one kind or another to impact the relationship between ruling and ruled. For people, there is no need to worry about doing things that they can't tolerate because of their personal qualities, because all human behaviors are under the regulation of the law. Even if the other party does something harmful to their own interests, it is tolerable in a sense, because these rights are voluntarily ceded by people. This will form a much more stable society, which is exactly what people want to see.
Three. Comparison of the functions of freedom
Freedom can achieve peace and ensure the safety of subjects. [19] (provided that the rights of the subjects are transferred). And the right to surrender is only the vast majority of natural freedom. It can be concluded that freedom ended Hobbes' state of war and brought peace to some extent. Therefore, ending the natural state and bringing a sense of security is the first function of freedom.
In many ways, people can make their own choices without outside interference. For example, people have the freedom to choose their own residence, diet and occupation; Educate children about their freedom in the way they think fit, and so on.
The free association of many people can change the government and build a better government. [20] Hobbes believes that if a large group of people unjustly resist the monarch or commit capital crimes, and everyone knows that they will be killed, then they can unite, help each other and defend each other. Then I think the indirect consequence of this is a new government and a new government.
Freedom has always been our unremitting pursuit, just like in the movie Braveheart, the hero shouted "freedom" before he died. In reality, some of us always feel that some things are not free enough, but we often don't take into account the freedom we already enjoy. Just as Hobbes thinks it is absurd that people are still clamoring for a kind of personal freedom. [23] So I think that when thinking about such problems, we should contact the current social situation, not take it for granted. Proceeding from reality, this will be more conducive to our understanding of the true meaning of freedom. At the same time, this can also be extended to the formulation of the system. The quality of a system is not what we think, but should be combined with the reality of society, just as Deng Xiaoping said, "Practice is the only criterion for testing truth".