A Measure of Freedom

This book provides the first systematic account of the nature and importance of our judgements about degrees of freedom. Author Ian Carter analyzes the normative assumptions behind the claim that individuals are entitled to a measure of freedom. He argues for a conception of freedom that not only reflects commonly held intuitions about who is freer than who but is also compatible with a liberal or freedom-based theory of justice.

Ian Carter is a Research Fellow at the Dipartimento di Studi Politici e Sociali at the Universita di Pavia, Italy.

Introduction

1

(11)

PART I: JUSTICE AND OVERALL FREEDOM

The Concept of Overall Freedom

11

(20)

Specific Freedoms and Overall Freedom

12

(2)

Defining Freedom

14

(3)

Intuitions and Common-Sense Comparisons

17

(1)

The Specific-Freedom Thesis

18

(5)

Is There Such a Thing as Overall Freedom?

23

(8)

The Value of Freedom

31

(37)

The Idea of Non-Specific Value

32

(5)

Unconditional Value

37

(4)

Intrinsic Value

41

(2)

Instrumental Value

43

(11)

Constitutive Value

54

(7)

Non-Specific Value and Non-Specific Disvalue

61

(2)

Degrees of Overall Freedom to Do Valuable Things

63

(1)

Extreme Differences in Specific Value

64

(2)

Summary

66

(1)

Definitions

66

(2)

The Distribution of Freedom

68

(27)

From Non-Specific Value to Freedom-Based Theories of Justice

68

(6)

From Non-Specific Value to Distributive Principles

74

(12)

From Distributive Principles to Powers of Measurement

86

(6)

Conceptual and Realistic Theory, Ideal and Non-Ideal Theory

92

(1)

Summary

93

(2)

Reflective Equilibrium

95

(24)

Measurement and Definition

95

(5)

Powers and Demands

100

(4)

Freedom and Justice

104

(4)

Swanton on Overall Freedom and Reflective Equilibrium

108

(3)

Further Remarks on Reflective Equilibrium

111

(3)

Reflective Equilibrium and Consensus

114

(5)

PART II: VALUE-BASED FREEDOM

The Value-Based Approach

119

(29)

Why the Value-Based Approach? An Argument from Common-Sense Comparisons

121

(3)

The Value-Based Approach and the Specific-Freedom Thesis

124

(6)

The Rhetorical Interpretation: Some Counter-Arguments from Common-Sense Comparisons

130

(5)

The Hybrid Approach

135

(5)

The Value-Based Approach versus the Empirical Approach

140

(4)

Evaluation and Measurement

144

(2)

Summary

146

(2)

Self-Mastery

148

(21)

The Idea of Self-Mastery

149

(4)

Self-Mastery and the Specific-Freedom Thesis

153

(3)

The Rhetorical Interpretation: Some Further Counter-Arguments from Common-Sense Comparisons

156

(7)

The Priority of Empirical Freedom

163

(2)

Summary

165

(4)

PART III: EMPIRICAL FREEDOM

Individual Freedom: Actions

169

(50)

Steiner's Formula

171

(4)

The Problem of Indefinite Numbers of Descriptions

175

(8)

The Problem of Indefinite Subdivision

183

(5)

The Problem of Indefinite Causal Chains

188

(1)

Probability

189

(2)

Different Ways of Doing the Same Thing

191

(5)

Act-Trees and Act-Roots

196

(2)

The Variety of Options

198

(6)

Under- and Over-Represented Actions

204

(4)

Dealing with the Remaining Counter-Examples

208

(3)

Physicalist, Empiricist, and Kantian Conceptions of Action

211

(8)

Individual Freedom: Constraints

219

(27)

Constraint Variables and their Sources

220

(4)

Threats and Offers

224

(8)

Difficulty

232

(1)

Probability Again

233

(1)

`Socialist' versus `Libertarian' Conceptions of Constraints

234

(3)

`Liberal' versus `Republican' Conceptions of Constraints

237

(8)

Conclusion

245

(1)

Group Freedom

246

(23)

Group Freedom and Collective Freedom

248

(5)

The Collective Freedom and Individual Unfreedom of Proletarians

253

(3)

The Truth in Claims about Collective Freedom and Unfreedom

256

(2)

Group Freedom and Communal Property

258

(9)

Conclusion

267

(2)

Indicators of Freedom

269

(19)

The Need for a Realistic Freedom Metric

269

(4)

The Freedom-Type Metric

273

(9)

The Exchange-Value Metric

282

(3)

Combining the Two Metrics

285

(2)

Conclusion

287

(1)

Conclusion

288

(5)

Bibliography

293

(10)

Index

303

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Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials

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A Measure of Freedom

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials

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