Freedom, History of

This article discusses the history of the ideal of political freedom from ancient times to the present day. Prior to the seventeenth century, political freedom was widely understood to mean not having a master, but the value and feasibility of this good was contested. Hobbes introduced the 'negative' conception of freedom as noninterference in the seventeenth century, and Rousseau introduced the 'positive' conception of freedom as effective self-mastery in the eighteenth century. The debate between these two conceptions has dominated discussions ever since, obscuring the older and once widely shared view.