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The subjective experience is one reasonable way to look at freedom. It feels good to feel like I can do what I want. Not being able to do what I want makes me feel frustrated and angry at whatever is standing in my way. It also feels good to believe that nobody is going to bother me. Being bothered ranges from annoying to painful and frightening. So both kinds of freedom can be seen as pleasant states untroubled by certain kinds of negative emotions.
Both of those feeling, though, arise in both a social/cultural context (we are evolved as social animals, as someone noted) and in a psychological context (with our psyches molded by nature, yes, but also nurture). So what we want to do and what we consider a bother are framed by the cultural context in which we grew up and live.
On the whole more freedom is probably good. But people who obsess about limits on their freedom seem to me to often be reacting to fears and worries that originate more in their heads than in the real world -- at least here in the developed West.
'Freedom: Three Varieties and a Caveat'
Highlighting something from yesterday's links: Freedom: Three Varieties and a Caveat, by Peter Dorman, Econospeak: What follows is a very brief summary of an appendix in my micro textbook that addresses the libertarian case for free markets. It was triggered by the comment of Tyler Cowen that ...
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Jan 31, 2016
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