Wikipedia: Freedom, refers, in a very general sense, to the state of being free (unrestricted, unconfined or unfettered). The following are specific examples of its usage:
- Political freedom is the absence of political restraints, particularly with respect to speech, religious practice, and the press. -Freedom of a person refers to not being in prison as well as not being a victim of false imprisonment. - Economic freedom means having more choices due to being wealthy or having more economic choices and not being subject to very many natural or institutional constraints. A monopolistic firm has more freedom to set prices than does a firm in a perfectly competitive market. One with more net worth has more freedom than one without any. See economic power. software freedom or other freedom of information (or ideas); i.e.: software (or information) being free of practical or (more commonly) legal restrictions on its use, modification, distribution and (less often restricted) creation. - freedom of expression (or speech) is similar to software freedom, but refers to a general lack of such restrictions (on the creation, use, modification and dissemination of ideas) in a society by the government or those that hold power in that society. - being not in any relationship (be it a romantic relationship or a cooperative, for example), free to do what one wants, including starting a new relationship or having relationship tests (like one-night-stands, casual physical intimacy, etc). - coming of age and leaving one's parents' home - freedom of choice i.e. free will
Desirable? Absolute freedom of the individual in a society => no, as this would lead into anarchy and a social Darwinism IMO.
Relative freedom => yes. But I'm unsure how to phrase its extension. Freedom of speech, thinking, actions IF not leading into harm for the other individual. Maybe I would call it a self-responsible freedom, a self-controlled one that does not force anything upon another person. Agreeing to disagree and then leave it at that would be nice and always keeping in mind not to harm the person thinking otherwise. Problem comes if there are interest conflicts, then a compromise must be thought of, therefore => relative freedom. Kiya
