Magister Educationis - MEd / M.Ed. mini-tesis, Departement Filosofie van die Opvoeding, Universiteit van wes-Kaapland. Hierdie mini-tesis ondersoek die gebruik van geweld deur die Suid-Afrikaanse regering as regverdiging om'n ~ "demokratiese" staat instand te hou asook die gebruik van geweld deur magte wat "n "meer" demokratiese staat daar wil stel. In Hoofstuk 1 word daar geargumenteer dat die gebruik van geweld 'n morele kwessie is en word daar onder meer verwys na die verskillende soorte geweld wat aangetref word. Veral word daar gekyk of alle burgers " onder die verpligting is om die staat te gehoorsaam en of hierdie gehoorsaamheid onreflektiewe gehoorsaamheid is. In Hoofstuk 2 word gekyk of dwang ooit geregverdig is deur te kyk na die verband tussen Positiewe en Negatiewe Vryheid en dwang. In Hooofstuk 3 word daar kortliks gekyk na waarom die demokrasie die mees aanvaarbare vorm van regering vir die mens as rasionele wese is. Daarna (Hoofstuk 4) word ondersoek ingestel na eerstens die verband tussen moraliteit en demokrasie en tweedens na die verband tussen demokrasie en geweld deur te verwys na die klassieke en die kontempor~re teorie~ van demokrasie. In Hoofstuk 5 word daar veral gekyk na watter ruimte, indienenige, daar vir wettige teenstemming "dissent" in 'n demokrasie bestaan asook hoe daar binne 'n demokrasie teenstemming gebied kan word en watter beperkinge daar op vryheid van spraak en assosiasie as wettige teenkanting is. Daar word dan ook kortliks gekyk na hoe geweld indruis teen demokratiese prosedure en of daar ook ander faktore is wat die demokratiese proses beinvloed. In Hoofstuk 6 kyk ek na hoe die polemici voordeel probeer trek deur die konsep "geweld" op 'n bepaalde manier te hanteer deur daarop te wys dat "geweldloos" nie die teenoorgestelde van "gewelddadig" is nie. Verskeie vorme van geweldlose verset of pasifisme word kortliks ondersoek en word uitgewys dat ook daar 'n vorm van dwang teenwoordig is. Die verband tussen demokrasie en geweldlose verset word dan ondersoek. In Hoofstuk 7 word gekyk na geweld in die Suid-Afrikaanse skolestelsel deur te wys op hoe die studente en die staat onderskeidelik die konsepte geweld en demokrasie hanteer en toepas. Daar word kortliks uitgewys dat vrede nie sinoniem met egverdigheid is nie. Veral word gekyk na die polisie en weermag en morele regverdiging van geweld. In Hoofstuk 8 word gekyk na wat bedoel word met 'n demokratiese onderwysstelsel deur veral te kyk na 'n model van deelnemende demokrasie en hoe studente-praktyke moontlik aanleiding tot geweld kan gee. In Hoofstik 9 word 'n kort samevatting van die argument gegee.

The objective of this research was to contribute to the discussion about LGBT-rights in Swedish politics. Some previous findings suggested that one political party in particular, the Swedish Democrats, had an opposing stance towards LGBT-persons. To investigate this, the first research question aimed to find out if there are in fact any notable differences between the different parties in the Swedish parliament in this regard. The second research question was designed in order to examine all related opinions of the parties in the light of positive and negative freedom. The third research question aimed to find out how the attitudes from the political parties could be understood within a perspective of tolerance. The analytical framework is based on the concept of tolerance, and the concepts of positive and negative freedom which were originally developed by Isiah Berlin. The study is a qualitative text-analysis with an abductive approach. Argumentation analysis has been applied when suitable. The study found that the Swedish Democrats was the most restrictive party in this context. Moreover, the studied policies were found to have characteristics of both negative and positive freedom, and they were generally approved upon by the political parties. Lastly, the Swedish Democrats and the Christian Democrats were argued to be tolerant towards these LGBT-policies, even though the policies were mostly disliked due to moral clashes against their core family values.

In his defense of negative freedom, Isaiah Berlin&rsquo / s main target is the political voluntarism of enlightenment rationalism which has paved way to totalitarian and authoritarian political regimes of the 20th century which brought the sacrifice of individual freedom. For Berlin, in contrast to Platonic realism of enlightenment rationalism in which there is a substantial belief in reason&rsquo / s capacity for giving us the knowledge of the supreme good, the nominalist foundations of negative freedom can provide us a secure grounding in the justification of the rights over the goods. By declaring the inviolable rights and relying on the principle of neutrality, negative freedom eliminates the risk of political voluntarism stemming from enlightenment rationalism or scientism. Since the 1980s, in Turkey, political and social oppositions to Rousseauian enlightenment of the Turkish state have deployed the epistemic and political tools of negative freedom. This appeal has aimed to open a legitimate space for the language of freedom as non-intervention under which each individual chooses his personal values without the fear of state intervention. In contrast to the interventionist claims of state, negative freedom, it has been believed that, has provided a secure grounding for the rights of individuals. Besides, the meta-ethical thesis of the incommensurability of human goods has also been employed for delegitimizing the substantial belief in the monism of the republican regime which relied on the assumption presenting the republican way of life as the supreme good. This missionary zeal for the re-construction of the republic on the premises of negative freedom has not, however, gone unchallenged. Against such identification of democracy with free-market and value pluralism, the republican front defends the restoration of the foundational ideals of the republic by returning to the substantial understanding of national sovereignty under the formulation of &lsquo / militant democracy&rsquo / . In this study, even though I agree with the nominalist epistemology of negative freedom which manifests a skeptic and agnostic attitude toward the power of reason and the insistence of negative freedom on the necessity of the priority of right, I have demonstrated the reasons behind the failure of negative freedom in justifying the priority of the right over the goods. Actually, my analysis has already displayed that concerning the radical consequences of the thesis of incommensurability, it is doubtful whether negative freedom can provide political conditions even for the cause of peace without the presence of absolute sovereign as suggested in Hobbes&rsquo / s political theory. At this point, I have argued that we should take into consideration the achievements of the ideal of autonomy in grounding the priority of the right over the good. Contrary to Berlin&rsquo / s distorted representation of autonomy, I believe that the critical rationalism of autonomy and its understanding of law will protect us not only from the metaphysics of enlightenment rationalism and scientism, but also from the metaphysics of historicism envisaged by Berlin&rsquo / s version of negative freedom.

This paper discusses if Margin of Appreciation is compatible with the idea of universal human rights. Through the case of Negative freedom of association in Sweden, it studies the phenomenon that Giorgio Agamben has called the State of exception. The questions that are discussed and answered are 1) How does the rights theories of Jack Donnelly and Ronald Dworkin relate to Margin of appreciation, and 2) How has Margin of appreciation been applied in cases concerning the negative freedom of association in Sweden, in the European court for human rights. These questions and answers are then used in the discussion on how Margin of appreciation affects the concept of universal human rights. / Denna uppsats diskuterar frågan om Margin of Appreciation är förenligt med tanken om universella mänskliga rättigheter. Genom studier av den negativa föreningsfriheten i Sverige, så undersöks doktrinen Margin of appreciation och hur den förhåller sig till tanken om universella rättigheter. Frågorna som diskuteras och besvaras är 1) hur förhåller sig Jack Donnellys respektive Ronald Dworkins rättighetsteorier till Margin of appreciation, samt 2) Hur har Margin of appreciation tolkats i europadomstolens i fall gällande den negativa föreningsfriheten i Sverige. Dessa frågor tas till hjälp i diskussionen kring hur Margin of appreciation påverkar tanken om universella mänskliga rättigheter.

The name of this essay is The legitimacy of the free choice of school – a philosophical studyabout the value of autonomy in the context of paternalistic interventions and principles ofjustice. The aim of this essay is to examine how the free choice of school can be legitimizedthrough perspectives regarding principles of justice. The results show that the free choice ofschool can be legitimized from several different standpoints such as the intrisic value ofautonomy, the negative concept of freedom and the rights based perspective of equality.Further, the free choice of school can also be legitimized from an epistemic viewpoint aswell as through theories about fair processes and compensatory efforts. My ambition withthis study is to broaden the discourse surrounding the topic. A discussion based on ideas andprinciples is a valuable complement to the more common debate about outcome regardingthe free choice of school. / Denna uppsats heter Det fria skolvalets legitimitet – en filosofisk analys om autonominsegenvärde, paternalistiska interventioner och rättviseteoretiska principer. Syftet meduppsatsen är att undersöka hur och på vilka grunder det fria skolvalets legitimitet kanmotiveras utifrån ett rättviseteoretiskt perspektiv. Mina resultat visar att det fria skolvaletkan legitimeras utifrån ett antal olika utgångspunkter såsom autonomins intrinsikala värde,det negativa frihetsbegreppet och ett rättighetsbaserat perspektiv på jämlikhet. Det friaskolvalet kan också legitimeras utifrån ett epistemiskt perspektiv samt utifrån teorier omlegitima processer och kompensatoriska insatser. Min ambition med uppsatsen är att breddadiskussionen genom att angripa det valda området utifrån ett filosofiskt perspektiv då det iden politiska debatten kring det fria skolvalet tenderar att vara fokus på de faktiska utfallenav reformen. Min uppfattning är att en idéburen och principiell utgångspunkt i frågan är ettviktigt komplement som jag anser borde få större utrymme i debatten.

<p>The study argues that implicit in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the principle of immigration as human rights is supported by principle of positive freedom, negative freedom, and equal autonomy. The study endorses a liberal egalitarian perspective by claiming that human right to immigrate promotes equal autonomy. The study also investigates why the principle of immigration as a human right has been dismissed by doctrines within Liberalism. It argues that a state lacks a legitimacy to employ a principle of national self-determination against the immigration issue. Instead, a state has a moral obligation to the protection of a human right to immigrate; it also has a duty to provide equal social rights to the immigrants in compared with those of the citizens.</p>

The study argues that implicit in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the principle of immigration as human rights is supported by principle of positive freedom, negative freedom, and equal autonomy. The study endorses a liberal egalitarian perspective by claiming that human right to immigrate promotes equal autonomy. The study also investigates why the principle of immigration as a human right has been dismissed by doctrines within Liberalism. It argues that a state lacks a legitimacy to employ a principle of national self-determination against the immigration issue. Instead, a state has a moral obligation to the protection of a human right to immigrate; it also has a duty to provide equal social rights to the immigrants in compared with those of the citizens.

Despite the fact that the issue has been discussed for several decades, there are still no rules in Sweden mandating political parties and candidates to disclose received donations. Because of this lack of transparency, Sweden is not fulfilling some of its international obligations and has fallen behind in the international trend to increase the transparency of election campaign finance. The lack of disclosure rules in Sweden has led to extensive criticism, most notably from the Council of Europe´s group of states against corruption, Greco, who criticized Sweden in light of the guidelines on the subject from the Council of Europe. At this writing, a new proposal for disclosure rules is being prepared at the Department of Justice, DoJ. The proposal is to be presented in spring 2013. For the time being, the only thing that exists regarding transparency of election finance in Sweden is an agreement from 2000, struck between some of the parties in parliament, to voluntarily disclose some of their received donations. In 2004 a government report proposed implementing disclosure rules. The proposal received extensive criticism from the reviewing bodies regarding its compliance with the rights protection in the Swedish Instrument of Government, RF. RF provides absolute protection against the government forcing individuals to disclose their opinions in political matters and absolute protection against the government keeping records of individuals' political opinions. Since these rights are absolute, they can be restricted only by constitutional amendment. It is uncertain if disclosure rules can be considered infringements under these absolute provisions, but even if they are considered infringements, it is likely that the disclosure provisions can be designed so as not to violate the RF absolute protections. Furthermore, RF provides relative protection of the freedom of expression and association. Disclosure rules would probably not infringe the freedom of expression but are likely to be considered infringements of the freedom of association. Restrictions of the freedom of association can only be implemented in the order specified in RF and since the order for restricting the freedom of association is very rigid, it is unlikely that such a restriction would be allowed under the current RF. The DoJ has expressed that the pending proposal will not include a proposal for a constitutional amendment. For Sweden to fulfill its international obligations in regards of transparency in campaign finance, more extensive disclosure rules must be implemented than those included in the agreement between some parties in parliament and those included in the 2004 proposal. The DoJ has expressed, however, that the pending proposal will be modeled upon both the voluntary agreement and the 2004 proposal. It is therefore not entirely unlikely that the pending proposal will be either illegal under the constitution or not far reaching enough, or both. / I Sverige saknas regler som kräver av politiska partier och kandidater att redovisa mottagna donationer (redovisningskrav). Detta trots att frågan diskuterats under flera decennier. Frånvaron av redovisningskrav innebär att Sverige inte uppfyller vissa av sina internationella åtaganden och att Sverige halkat efter i den mycket tydliga internationella trenden att öka transparensen kring valkampanjernas finansiering. Frånvaron har även lett till omfattande kritik, framförallt från Europarådets grupp mot korruption, Greco, som kritiserat bristen utifrån Europarådets riktlinjer i ämnet. I skrivande stund bereds vid Justitiedepartementet ett förslag till redovisningskrav som kommer att presenteras under våren 2013. Tills vidare är det enda som finns avseende transparens i valkampanjfinansieringen en överenskommelse från 2000, mellan några av partierna i Riksdagen om att frivilligt redovisa vissa mottagna bidrag. År 2004 föreslog en offentlig utredning införandet av redovisningskrav. Förslaget mötte omfattande kritik från remissinstanserna gällande dess förenlighet med regeringsformens, RF:s, rättighetsskydd. RF innehåller ett absolut skydd mot att det allmänna tvingar en enskild att tillkännage sin politiska åskådning och ett absolut skydd mot att det allmänna registrerar en enskilds politiska åskådning. Eftersom dessa skydd är absoluta kan de endast inskränkas genom grundlags-ändring. Det är osäkert om redovisningskrav kan anses vara inskränkningar av dessa absoluta skydd. Om redovisningskrav är inskränkningar av dessa absoluta rättigheter torde det ändock vara möjligt att utforma kraven så att de är förenliga med skydden. RF innehåller även relativa skydd för yttrandefrihet och föreningsfrihet. Redovisningskrav skulle förmodligen inte vara en inskränkning av RF:s skydd för yttrandefriheten men troligtvis vara en inskränkning av RF:s skydd för föreningsfrihet. Detta innebär att inskränkningen endast får göras enligt i RF stadgad ordning. Eftersom möjligheterna att inskränka föreningsfriheten enligt RF är mycket små är det tveksamt om en sådan inskränkning är möjlig att införa utan grundlagsändring. Justitiedepartementet har dock uttryckt att det nya förslaget inte kommer att inkludera något förslag till grundlagsändring. För att Sverige ska uppfylla sina internationella åtaganden avseende öppenhet i valfinansieringen måste mer långtgående redovisningskrav införas än de som ingår i den frivilliga överenskommelsen och som föreslogs av utredningen 2004. Justitiedepartementet har dock uttryckt att just utredningen från 2004 och den frivilliga överenskommelsen ska ligga till grund för de nya redovisningskraven. Det är alltså inte helt osannolikt att det kommande förslaget till redovisningskrav kommer att vara antingen oförenlig med regeringsformen eller inte tillräckligt långtgående, eller både och

Šiame darbe įrodinėju tezę: Berlino dviejų laisvių perskyra pagrįsta, nes tiek praeities, tiek dabarties mąstytojų teorinei minčiai būdingi pozityviosios arba negatyviosios laisvės bruožai. I-oje dalyje pateikiu Berlino pagrindinius dviejų laisvių bruožus. Taip pat nagrinėju Berlino darbus, skirtus lygybės, istorijos filosofijos, pliuralizmo bei Apšvietos ir Romantizmo problematikai. Teigiu, jog Berlinas – negatyviosios laisvės gynėjas, mat jo filosofijoje ginama individo pasirinkimo laisvė, asmuo suprantamas kaip autonomiškas subjektas. Berlinas pasisako už vertybinio pliuralizmo idėjas, teigia, jog visiems žmonėms turi būti garantuotos vienodos galimybės. II-oje dalyje nagrinėju 3-jų žymių praeities mąstytojų laisvės sampratas, įrodinėju, jog jos turi negatyviosios arba pozityviosios laisvės bruožų. Nustatau, kad Loko teorijoje vyrauja negatyviosios laisvės nuostatos, mat autorius teigia, jog visi individai laisvi ir patys gali rinktis gyvenimo tikslus. Spinozos darbus priskiriu pozityviosios laisvės tradicijai, nes autorius teigia, jog laisvi tegali būti individai, besivadovaujantys protu. Teigiu, jog Hegelio sistema priklauso toms pozityviosios laisvės teorijoms, anot kurių asmuo gali būti laisvas tik priklausydamas politinei bendruomenei. III-oje dalyje analizuoju Berlino laisvių perskyros kritiką. Ji pateikiama XX a. Politinių teorijų kontekste: XXa. Vyksta atkaklus ginčas tarp negatyviosios (individualistų) ir pozityviosios (bendruomenininkų) laisvės atstovų. Teigiu... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / In this work I'm proving thesis: the Berlin's distinction between two freedoms is legitimate, because the attributes of positive or negative freedom are characteristic to the past thinkers' theoretical thought. In the first part I'm setting forth the main characteristics of Berlin's two freedoms. I'm also investingating the works of Berlin, which are investigating the problems of equality, philosophy of history, pluralism and Romanticism and Enlightenment. I maintain that Berlin is proponent of negative freedom, because the freedom of individual choice is protected in his philosophy, person is comprehended as autonomous subject. Berlin is proponent of value pluralism, he maintains that equal opportunities must be ensured for all. In the second part I'm analysing the concepts of freedom of three past thinkers, I'm arguing that these concepts of freedom have the features of negative or positive freedom. I'm settling that there are certain attitudes of negative freedom which are dominating in the theory of Locke: it is because author states that all individuals are free and can freely choose the ends of life. I attribute the works of Spinoza to the tradition of positive freedom, because author states that only mind following people can be free. I state, that the system of Hegel belongs to those theories of positive freedom, according to which person can only be free if he belongs to the political community. In the third part I'm analysing the criticism to the Berlin's freedom... [to full text]

This thesis aims to broaden the discussion about the origins of some of the fundamental theoretical sources for Hayek’s ideas regarding freedom and the state. It focuses on the debates between the Austrian School of Economics and the German Historical School of Economics, as well as the works of Popper, Mill, Humboldt and Hegel in order to identify their positive and negative influences on Hayek’s views of freedom and the state. The originality of the thesis relates to the examination of Humboldt’s political philosophy in terms of its influence over the formation of the components of Hayek’s account of freedom, such as spontaneous order, the rule of law, the role of the state, and the nature of human knowledge. These components have assisted in Hayek’s efforts to prove the superiority of open societies over totalitarian regimes. The thesis explains that Hayek’s intellectual collaboration with Popper played a significant role in identifying many enemies of open societies. Both theorists agreed that historicism was a method commonly used and promoted by the enemies of open society; specifically, they accused Hegel of promoting historicism and, as a result, of being an enemy of open societies. However, this thesis disputes these accusations and argues that Popper and Hayek did not possess adequate knowledge of Hegel’s theoretical work to make such claims. In actuality, Hegel was not an enemy of open societies, he recognized the potential devastating outcomes associated with them and sought solutions. The thesis also explores the idea that Mill was also worried about the detrimental features of industrial capitalism and, as a result, attributed a prominent role to “state activity” in securing the conditions of positive freedom. Hayek, meanwhile, viewed such forms of state interference as obstacles to attaining freedom. This thesis examines the topic whether or not Hayek actually sought to formulate a genuine form of freedom or if he merely valued freedom as a tool for the promotion of open societies over centrally planned economies.