Describe the negative concept of liberty.
‘Negative liberty’ seeks to define and defend an area in which the individual would be inviolable, in which he or she could ‘do, be or become’ whatever he or she wished to ‘do, be or become’.
(i)This is an area in which no external authority can interfere. It is a minimum area that is sacred and in which whatever the individual does, is not to be interfered with.
(ii)The existence of the ‘minimum area of non-interference’ is the recognition that human nature and human dignity need an area where the person can act unobstructed by others.
(iii)Negative liberty tradition argues for an inviolable area of non-interference in which the individual can express himself or herself. If the area is too small then human dignity gets compromised.
