Freedom is the ability to act on a goal, a desire, to not be constrained by the world one lives in.
There’s a LOT of disagreement about that definition. Many would frame it as not being constrained by governments or other people, or even about lack of specific types of constraint, rather than having no constraints in the the world one lives in. I’d say that it’s a pretty meaningless word in general, and needs specifics before you can discuss. The UN declaration is mostly about feel-good signaling, with very little specifics about how to provide (or even how to prevent abrogation of) the listed “rights”.
What we agreed as a society is to sacrifice a bit of both freedoms.
I was never asked, and did not agree to anything like that. I do accept many constraints and behave prosocially most of the time, but not due to contract. I do what I think is right, and what keeps me from being punished by powerful groups.
To me, freedom is internal—it’s my perception that I could do something different, and choose to cooperate or not with other humans based on how much I sympathize with their goals and actions.
There’s a LOT of disagreement about that definition. Many would frame it as not being constrained by governments or other people, or even about lack of specific types of constraint, rather than having no constraints in the the world one lives in. I’d say that it’s a pretty meaningless word in general, and needs specifics before you can discuss. The UN declaration is mostly about feel-good signaling, with very little specifics about how to provide (or even how to prevent abrogation of) the listed “rights”.
I was never asked, and did not agree to anything like that. I do accept many constraints and behave prosocially most of the time, but not due to contract. I do what I think is right, and what keeps me from being punished by powerful groups.
To me, freedom is internal—it’s my perception that I could do something different, and choose to cooperate or not with other humans based on how much I sympathize with their goals and actions.