自由的性质

Nature of Liberty

尽管自由的关系和意义错综复杂,但个人自由构成所有其他自由的基础,也是理解它们的前提。在政治哲学里,个人自由始终就具有政治的意义。而在现代政治共同体之中,个人自由本身就是目的,而不是任何其他目的的手段。因此,现代社会的基本结构和制度的宗旨乃是为个人自由提供最大限度的可靠的空间。法治、民主以及共和的原则是支持和保障自由的方式。不过,随着社会的变迁,个人自由在其个人关系和活动空间的方面也会发生变化。积极自由和消极自由并不是两个问题的,而是同一个问题的不同层面;在政治哲学里,该理论是人们认识个人自由的一种方式。

Despite the complexity of relationship and significance of liberty, individual liberty constitutes the foundation of all other freedoms, and also being the precondition of comprehending them. In political philosophy, the political has always been characteristic of individual liberty. And among the modern political community, individual liberty is an end in itself. Therefore, the aim of the basic structure and purpose of modern society consists in providing maximum and reliable space for individu- al freedom. Rule of law, democracy and republican principles are all the way supporting and protecting individual freedom. However, with the change of society, individual liberty will undergo transformation in its relationship between persons and its space of activity. Positive freedom and negative freedom are different aspects of same problem, and this theory is mere a method of grasping individual liberty.