From the Greeks to Rousseau it was always conceived that a man’s freedom is born of a limitation upon what his rulers may exact from him; since Rousseau, and, more particularly, since Hegel, it has been urged that conformity to a code, and even compulsory obedience to it, is the very essence of freedom.
This passage traces the evolution of the concept of freedom from the Greeks to Hegel, highlighting a shift towards viewing conformity as essential to freedom.
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More from Harold J. Laski
The theory of a state of nature, with the rights therein implied, is the contribution, through Stoicism, of the Roman lawyers, and the great medieval contrast to Aristotle's experimentalism.
Liberty means self-government, and self-government means the right of every man to be his own legislator.
I can see no justice in such a denial of freedom.
There is no danger that the general strike will ever be other than a weapon of last resort; the occasions when it can be successfully used will be of the utmost rarity.
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