A Theory of Freedom

by Stanley I. Benn

This book is a major contribution to the study of the philosophy of action, moral philosophy, and political philosophy. Its central idea is a radically unorthodox theory of rational action. Most contemporary Anglo-American philosophers believe that action is motivated by desire. Professor Benn rejects the doctrine and replaces it with a reformulation of Kant's ethical and political theory, in which rational action can be determined simply by principles, regardless of consequences. The book analyzes the way in which value conflicts can be rationally resolved, the objectivity of value, the concept of moral personality, the principles of non-interference and respect of persons, the ideals of autonomy and community and various aspects of individual rights--focusing on the rights to freedom, welfare, and privacy.

Genres: Philosophy

356 pages, Paperback

First published August 26, 1988

Reviews

[Nick Geiser · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a remarkable book that cured me of my lingering Humean inclinations. Benn decisively shows, pace views like Bernard Williams', that beliefs can be "action-commitments", or reasons for action. This theory of action relates to a distinctive and unusual theory of freedom. Benn claims that freedom must be understood in context of a view of what it is to be a person (in a nutshell, something that can act on its beliefs). This focus on the person as the subject of freedom is a welcome departure from theories that begin with a free choice or some substantive idea of the good.

Benn's concept of a free person builds a social dimension into the concept (a free choice is one that is "eligible" for the person within the social world, among other things consistent with our expectations of each other). The account offers a richer and, in my view, more compelling account of freedom than the major theories of positive, negative, or republican freedom today.

Further chapters of interest include Benn's discussion of reasons in conflict, which applies an original mathematical model to represent the rationality of certain "trade-offs" among different action-commitments, and his concept of "autarchy"--an important conceptual space between unfreedom on the one hand and a moral ideal like autonomy on the other.