Kinds or Types or Classification of liberty

KINDS OF LIBERTY :

To have an easy understanding, Liberty can be stated as ' a state of freedom especially opposed to political subjection, imprisonment, or slavery.

Writers like Mac Iver, Laski and others classified liberty in to specific varieties. They are,

1.     Natural Liberty,

2.     Social / Civil Liberty

3.     Moral Liberty.

Social / Civil liberty if further classified in to 

1.Person liberty

2 Political Liberty

3   Economic Liberty

4.     Domestic Liberty

5.     National Liberty 

6.     International Liberty

1. Natural Liberty :

It implies complete freedom for a man to do what he wills. In other words, it means absence of all restraints and freedom from interferences. It may be easily understood that this kind of liberty is no liberty at all in as much as it is euphemism for the freedom of the forest. What we call liberty pertains to the realm of man's social existence.

This kind of liberty, in the opinions of the social contractualists like Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau was engaged by men living in the 'state of nature' - since where ther was not state and society. This kind of liberty is not possible at present. Liberty cannot exist in the absence of state. Unlimited liberty might have been engaged only by few strong but not all.

2. Social Liberty :

Social liberty relates to man's freedom in his life as a members of the social organization. As such, it refers to a man's right to do what he wills in compliance with the restraints Imposed on him in the general interest. Civil or social liberty consists in the rights and privileges that the society recongnizes and the state protects in the spheres of private and public life of an individual. Social liberty has the following sub categories:

(a) Personal Liberty :

Personal liberty is an important variety of social liberty. It refers to the opportunity to exercises freedom of choice in those areas of a man's life that the results of his efforts mainly affect him in that isolation by which at least he is always surrounded.

(b) Political Liberty :

It refers to the power of the people to be active in the affairs of the state. Political liberty is closely interlinked with the life of man as a citizen.

Simply stated political liberty consists in provisions for universal adult franchise, free and fair elections, freedom for the avenues that make a healthy public opinion. As a matter of fact political liberty consists in curbing as well as constituting and controlling the government.

(c) Economic Liberty :

It belongs to the individual in the capacity of a producer or a worker engaged in some gainful occupation or service. The individual should be free from the constant fear of unemployment and insufficiency.

(d) Domestic Liberty :

It is sociological concept that takes the discussion of liberty to the sphere of man's family life. It implies that all associations within the state, the miniature community of the family is the most universal and of the strongest independent vitality.

Domestic liberty consists in

1. Rendering the wife a fully responsible individual capable of holding property, suing and being sued, conducting business on her own account, and engaging full personal protection against her husband.

2.     is establishing marriage as far as the law is concerned on a purely contractual basis, and leaving the sacramental aspect of marriage to the ordinance of the religion professed by the parties and 

3.     seeing the physical, mental and moral care of the children.

(e) National liberty :

It is synonymous with national independence. As such, it implies that no nation should be under subjection of another. National movements or wars of independence can be identified as struggles for the attainment of national liberty. So national liberty is identified with patriotism.

(f) International Liberty :

It means the world is free from controls and limitation, use of force has no value. Dispute can be settled through peaceful means. Briefly all countries in the world will be free of conflicts and wars. Please will prevail.

In the international sphere, it implies renunciation of war, limitation on the production of armaments, abandonment's of the use of force, and the pacific settlement of disputes. The ideal of international liberty is based on this pious conviction to that extent the world frees itself from the use of force and aggression it gains and peace is given a chance to establish itself.

3. Moral Liberty :

This type of freedom is centered in the idealistic thoughts of thinkers from Plato and Aristotle in ancient times to Ruusseau, Kant, Hegel,Green and Bosanquet in modern times. moral liberty lies in man's capacity to act as per his rational self.

Every man has a personality of his own. He seeks the best possible development of his personality. At the same time he desire the same thing for other. And more than this, he pays sincere respect for the real worth and dignity of his fellow beings. It is directly connected with man's self - realization.