The Color of Liberty

Beyond binary discourses on liberty: Constant's modern liberty, rightly understood

“…He identifies the traditional liberal liberties that spell out negative freedom. 31 He speaks of the 'silence of the law'. 32 He speaks of limited government.…”

“…37 Whereas the arbitrary institutions of ostracism and censorship were suitable for ancient liberty, Constant insists, constitutional institutions that block the actual and potential exercise of arbitrary power are most suited for modern liberty. 38 Indeed, this antipathy towards arbitrary power is a unifying thread throughout some of Constant's central writings such as 'The Liberty of the Ancients Compared with That of the Moderns', Usurpation, Principles of Politics Applicable to All Representative Government, Principles of Politics Applicable to All Government, On Religion, and Commentary on Filangieri's Works (Part 1). Constant's explicit defense of the republican Directorate government against a threatened restoration further supports the primacy of his anxiety about 'the arbitrary principle'.…”

“…While prominent here is freedom as enjoyment of personal independence, positive freedom as self-development receives but little attention in a couple of paragraphs. 55 Moreover, in stressing the need to combine 'the two sorts of freedom', Constant seems to have in mind freedom as enjoyment of personal independence and freedom as political participation. 56 The triadic model of freedom helps to unveil positive freedom as self-development or perfection of character.…”

“…Rational, emotional, moral and sociable. They develop the 'noble and elevated part' of human nature', 71 'the better part of our nature', 72 'the distinctive endowments of a human being' 73 or 'higher faculties'. 74 Rational capacities are essential, but not to the exclusion of emotional and passionate ones (as distinguished from 'mere sensation') that 'common reasoning cannot satisfactorily explain'.…”

“…It is, in Constant's words, 'that noble disquiet which pursues and torments us, that desire to broaden our knowledge and develops our faculties'. 77 Mill refers to this drive as 'a sense of human dignity which all human beings possess'. 78 Both Mill and Constant are adamant that this 'noble disquiet' lies at the heart of humans' refusal to rest content with what Mill calls 'lower pleasure'.…”