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Pettit

Berlin and HobbesNegative Freedom or non-interference

Freedom is in the silence of the laws Compatible with a monarch or slavery because it is not the power one has over, but the

exercise of it. Hobbes - Law is always a fetter even if it protect you from being bound in chains that are

heavier than those of the lawevery law seems to me to curtail some liberty, although it

may be a mean to increasing another

o A free-man is he, that in those things, which by his strength and wit he is able to dois not hindered to doe what he has a will to

o The liberty of a subject, lyteth therefore only in those things which in regulatingtheir actions, the Sovereign hath pretermitted.

Historical story from Skinner: Liberalism is a watered-down or corrupted form of republican

thought.

Non-domination targets arbitrary use of power

B has the capacity to interfere On an arbitrary basis, and In certain choices that A is in a position to makeEmphasis is not on participation, not Arendt, Aristotle or civic humanistsparticipation is a

means to non-domination, not the end

Non-domination allows you to pursue your good as you best understand it.

Act is not arbitrary if it tracks your interests. Must justify government action in light of acommon good.

Advantages over non-interferenceevery act of the government does not have to be considereda diminution of liberty.

No concept of natural freedom outside of civil society.But many leftist liberal theories do not have emphasis on non-interferencetheories of neutralityor Rawls difference principle

Pettit response: yes, but then you have equality and freedom at odds. Non-domination ends up

with leftist liberal policies in the name of freedom.

Consent vs. Contestability

Consent has led to two problemso Growth of the populist ideamajority ruleo Free contractasymmetries of power established under the contract

Consent leads to absurd doctrines about implicit consent

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Under republicanism, must always have the power to contest

Non-domination targets domination both in society (ch. 5) and by government (ch.6)thus it ispredisposed to government action to rectify domination in society, but is wary that government

does not become the dominator.

Details on chapter 5 - Chapter 5- dangers that ordinary people face in their dealings with one

another, individually and in the context of collective and corporation organizations

Will be disposed toward a form of government that gives the law and the state a considerablerange of responsibilities

But will ill-disposed, on the other hand, towards a form of government that gives authoritiesor even majorities, a high degree of power and discretion

o Sort of built-in break of how much republicanism is going to want the state to do Socio-economic independencerequires Sen capabilities approach Notes that the premodern republican tradition assumed that there was nothing that could be

done to give independence to those who did not already have it, and so it did not support thesort of state envisaged here

o Special taxation on luxury or sumptuary goods and a commitment to ensuring that noone was allowed the sort of wealth that might enable them to corrupt public officialsand lord it over citizens. Harringtonredistributive, agrarian proposal, designed to

ensure that land di not come excessively under the control of a few

Details on Chapter 6 Republican forms: constitutionalism and Democracyhamstring

government to prevent it from dominating, especially majority tyranny

Constitutional constraints in the ideal republicrepublican instrumentalities should not bemanipulative by those in powerreduce discretionmakes government action more

difficulto Rule of Laws, not men

General and apply to everyone, promulgated and made known in advance,intelligible, consistent and not subject to constant change; and so on.

Will be discretion, but must meaningfully reference the lawo Disperse legal powers among different partiesotherwise it becomes arbitrary

Beyond separation of powers, also bicameralism, federalismo Law resistant to majority willmajorities will seize the law and oppress minorities

Decision-making power should be democratically controlled within the republican stateeveryone should be able to contest

o Contestability, not consentneed to force an account of relevant interest and ideaso Peoples autonomy: most of the time on auto-pilot, but can contest decisions at will,and if the contestation establishes a mismatcho Three conditions for contestability

Decision-making is conducted in such a way that there is a potential basis forcontestation

Deliberative, not bargaining with pre-formed interestscant be basedon powerhave to make decisions on the basis of suitable

considerations

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Channel or voice available by which decisions may be contestedinclusivityall different voices of community will have to be representedperhaps

quotas for groups such as women Responsive: Suitable forum in existence for hearing contestations: a forum

where the validity of the claim is assessed and a suitable response determined

Includes depoliticized onescentral banks

Critiques:

1. Doesnt non-interference have an independent value?a. Community where our lives are regulated down to the tiniest detail, but always in

strict accordance with known, non-arbitrary rules and procedures

i. AfterwardPettit seems to acknowledge thisdistinction between factorsthat compromise liberty, and factors that condition it

b. So then we have to ask of which has no more valuec. Skinner diverges from Pettitsays both non-interference and non-domination

have value2. Non-domination is not an independent valueits primarily security in your non-interference. But in anything we value, we want security in it. If you care about X as a

good, then it follows that you care about the security of your enjoyment of x

a. Thats why almost all liberals, except Hobbes, give political rights as a way toensure ability to fight

3. What counts as common good and how is it determined?a. Answer ends up deliberative democracyb. But deliberation is difficult inc. Part of liberalisms value was to exclude or limit controversial visions of the good

4. Excessively hamstrings governmentShapiro critique5.

No vision of rightscertain arbitrariness in government no matter whatrights give asort of security against arbitrariness

a. Important footnoteone way of linking-rights talk with republicanism would beto recognize certain natural, perhaps absolute, rights not to be interfered with on

an arbitrary basis: these would be different from natural rights not to be interferedwith on any basis, and would not raise probems for legitimating the state; in

practice they would be rights against interference other than by a suitable law.

Such an approach would amount to a programme of honouring non-domination,and would constitue a deontological version of republican thought. It is possible

that, wittingly or unwittingly, some 18th

century figures may have been

deontological republicans in that sense.

b. Pettit responseinevitably rights clash and then we get into a harm principlei. Yes but there is prima facie presumption against violation by government.

Burden on government to prove it.

c. Discussion of HarringtonBut what if the law of Lucca itself represent theimposition of arbitrary will?

i. only themselves to blame.ii.

6. Liberalism has an independent value that republicanism lacksequality

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a. Status conceptiononly those who had status were entitled to security from non-domination

i. Tied heavily into owning propertyii. Feared they would be used to violate property rights or become tools of

oligarchic ambition

b.

Pettit argues that result of old prejudicesc. Prejudices were erased by liberalismfree and equal regardless of our propertyrelations. In virtue of being human rather than in virtue of our economic

relationships.

d. Pettit notesNon-domination came to bee seen as too demanding that humanbeings are equal and should be equally well served by their social and political

institutions

i. Women and servantsii. Critics like Paley and Bentham axiomatic that all human beings are equal

e. Furthermore, once you include everyone difficult, if not impossible to come upwith an idea of the common good.

7.

Larmore liberalism smuggled in to on an arbitrary basisa. Arbitraryaimed at racking or pomoroitng the interests of the individuals whoare its object

i. Interests defined by the citizens themselves in deliberative procedureii. Lays down to conditions for deliberation

1. Citizens should rely solely on conceptual distinctions and forms ofinterference which no one in the community has a serious reason to

reject.2. Fundamental notions on which they do rely must nonetheless be

substantial enough to permit an adequate articulation fo their

various grievances and goals

iii. First conditionwhich others have a serious reason to reject embodies infact a basic kind of respect for the individual. If just laws are based, not

upon the bargaining power of various interests, but upon arguments that in

principle can meet with the assent of each citizens reason, then personsare being viewed as something more than simple means to an ulterior end.

They are being seen as ends in thesmevles, in the sense that the exercise of

their reason countsin this context at leastas having an intrinci value,which the terms of political life ought to acknowledge.

iv. Fundamental principle of respect for persons turns out to constitute themost important aspect of Pettits theory it guides the determination of

the interests which are non-arbitrary, that is, just laws ough to promote.8. Non-domination is compatible with monarchichal formsenlightenmentCondorcet

and turgot both supported the king who ruled in accordance with reason and their own

interests

a. Liberalismb. Discusses nobles oblige