Freedom

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, the term "freedom" referred to a capacity to pursue the good without interference from tyrants. Nowadays, paleos refer to this as "freedom for" to distinguish it from "freedom from."

What's confusing about all of this is the use of the term "good." Like the term realist, the term good has a classical, a modern and a post-modern definition. The impact of this is to give the term "freedom" three definitions. We have already seen the classical definition of freedom above.

The modern definition of freedom is "the capacity to pursue need satisfaction without interference, as long as this pursuit does not interfere with the freedom of others." A sophisticated version of this definition employs the so-called needs hierarchy of Abraham Maslow.

Postmoderns have realized, of course, that this unfettered definition presents a complication, since such unregulated behavior inevitably results in global warming and the exhaustion of the biosphere. Thus, we propose the following, amended, definition of freedom.

Freedom is "the capacity to pursue need satisfaction as long as it doesn't involve exceeding one's energy, air, water, healthcare, foodstamp or progeny budget or become an annoyance to one's neighbors."