Summary of phil parvin & clare chambers's political philosophy

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 Freedom is one of the most important concepts in political philosophy. For many, the primary purpose of a legitimate political system is to protect the freedom of its citizens. But first we must determine what freedom is. Is it simply the ability to make choices without external interference. Or does freedom require particular circumstances. #2 The idea of liberty is that an individual is free in so far as they are able to act without interference from external bodies or forces. This is the idea of liberty shared by thinkers like Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, as well as by classical liberal thinkers like F. A. Hayek and Ludwig von Mises. #3 According to this view, an individual is free if she is her own master and can make decisions based on her own ideals and purposes. However, this view of liberty is associated with thinkers like Jean Jacques Rousseau, who emphasized the communal nature of freedom. #4 The first distinction between positive and negative liberty is the distinction between effective and formal freedom. According to Hayek, the specific sort of interference that undermines freedom is coercion, which he defined as such control of the environment or circumstances of a person by another that, in order to avoid greater evil, he is forced to act not according to a coherent plan of his own but to serve the ends of another.