Liberty Flashcards
1
Q
How do anarchists perceive liberty?
A
- Can be considered as a combination of both the freedoms from liberalism and socialism
- liberalism, concept of negative liberty and being from restraints with individuals pursuing their own good in their own way
- socialism, freedom from the economic controls of the state and from economic hardship
2
Q
How do individualist anarchists regard human nature?
A
- Rational, individualist and autonomous
- Because authority is commanding, the individual cannot be autonomous in making decisions based on reason and conscience
- Because authority is controlling, individual is incapable of fully expressing their individuality
3
Q
How do collectivist anarchists regard human nature?
A
- Rational but altruistic and cooperative
- The unjust nature of the state means that the individual is not free to be altruistic and cooperative
- Liberty is only possible if there is equality and so necessitates the overthrowing of the current class based, hierarchical society.
- In God and the State (1871), Bakunin wrote that ‘the liberty of man consists solely in this, that he obeys the laws of nature’.
4
Q
How do anarchists perceive individuality?
A
- Agree that individuality does not exist outside of society as every individual needs others in order to develop, expand and grow
- Collectivists such as Bakunin argue that individuality can only be achieved through work and the collective
- Individualists like Max Stirner argue that whilst the individual needs voluntary associations with others, it is never for the common good and always for their own personal interest
- Joseph Pierre Prodhoun can be considered a compromise between the two polarising positions. Was critical of the obsession with individuality whilst also feeling that collectivism absorbed and devalued the individual. Argued that whilst the first element of human nature is individuality, individuals coming together in a group created a force that is more than the sum of the individuals.
