... incapacity to achieve a goal is not a lack of political freedom' (Book 1, p. 15) Not all examples are as clear cut as this. Should one's liberty be restricted by one's place of birth, religion or financial status in that one is prevented from taking certain jobs or partaking in certain activities it is not necessarily a restriction of one's negative freedom unless those restrictions are imposed by others. Should there be, say, a minimum personal wealth required for promotion to the officer corps and I am prevented from being promoted by a lack of money, then I could justifiably argue that my negative freedom is being restricted. Positive freedom, however, regards the removal of impediments to one's opportunities. It is best illustrated by analogy. Should one have, say, a significant credit card balance, whilst still having income spare at the end of the month, it would be wise ...

See this essay or coursework document in full right now