On The Priority Of Basic Liberty

Each era has its own philosophical theme.The theoretical factors determining this theme are to solve the philosophical problems left by our predecessors.And its practical factors are to trying to deal with the major issues raised in this era according to the requirements of The Times.As for The Times we live in,liberty is still a Philosophical Problem,that legacy by the gone world,and is also an important issue,that we need to confront.That is to say,the core issue of contemporary western political philosophy is liberty.Although the publication of John Rawls’ s a theory of justice has caused the revival of egalitarianism in more than half a century,it does not mean that the subject word of contemporary political philosophy has shifted to "equality".Because the issue of liberty is still up in the air.The contemporary revival of egalitarianism is characterized by people’s efforts to solve the issues of liberty.Equality and liberty have been the most important political values since modern times.If justice means equality,then equality of "what".If "what" refers to the "currency" of equality,what is the use of that "currency" for? In other words,what is the intention behind the egalitarian desire to achieve this "currency" of equality for everyone? In our opinion,the most basic intention of the egalitarian is to solve the problem of liberty,and to solve the problem of the reality of liberty,especially the problem of the equal realization of liberty.If the problem of liberty was solved after mill,it was only solved on the level of rights,while the problem of the equal realization of liberty on the level of power(capability)remains to this day.Rawls is keen to capture the crux of the problem of liberty in this age,that is,liberty has encountered a serious crisis.The essence of this crisis is that,the inequality between people on the "value of liberty" hinders the equal realization of the rights,which are endowed by law.In other words,it is the inequality of liberty in capacity that leads to the formalization of liberty in rights.The renaissance of egalitarianism is based on the deep concern about the crisis of liberty in contemporary reality,and it is expected to explore a feasible way to advance the realization of the equality of liberty to the greatest extent.The purpose of such an exploration is to overcome this crisis and focus on how to realize equal liberty in consideration of multiple factors such as historical situation,demands of The Times and demands of reality.For those who care about liberty,the crisis of liberty is the primary issue they face.In fact,the problem of crisis has been going on for a long time.Marx and his successors tried to solve this problem.They put forward their ideas and put them into social practice.As for these solution train of thoughts and the specific solution they provide are successful or not,that is another question.In the contemporary,this question was reintroduced by Rawls and provided his justice as fairness,as a new solution.Meanwhile,the "crisis of freedom" issue becomes more prominent and urgent because of Robert Nozick’s fierce opposition and strong questioning of Rawls’ s ideas.This issue has become a famous problem left by history again on account of its difficulty in solving.This depth of crisis is manifested as the internal and external conflicts that liberty experiences and the betrayal of liberty to itself.In the conflict of liberty the status of it is challenged,in the betrayal of liberty the value of it is questioned.This kind of challenge and question that constitutes the perplex in the process of liberal realization.Since the "perplexity" focuses on the conflict and betrayal of liberty,if these two aspects can be dealt with well,then the difficulties of liberal realization can be solved thoroughly.The crisis of liberty clearly points to the realization of liberty.It’s points to the internal and external conflicts,and to the fracture between the right of liberty and the power of liberty,in the process of liberal realization.The existence of these conflicts mean that we need to prioritize among different values,and need to highlight and accommodate different values in this process.The fracture means that we should give consideration to the dual perspectives of rights and power,pay attention to the equal exercise of rights,concern in the generation of capacity and the supply of resources.The imbalance between equality of rights and inequality of power is the key to the difficulty of the realization of liberty.For this problem of liberty in modern society,it implies the basic requirement of realization of equality,and for each citizen of this society,the requirement of equality should not only stay in the form,but also go forward to the equality in essence.The practical significance of the realization of liberty lies in this realization of liberty is equality.The difficulty of this realization also lies in this point.The crisis of liberty is caused by its’ realization equality or not,and especially in essence.As for how to resolve the crisis of freedom,we must return to the real situation.From the desirable dimension of realizing liberty equally in essence at the ideal level to the feasible dimension under the specific social and historical conditions at the realistic level,it needs to consider the coexistence of multiple values,that is to be dealt with in people’s real life,to face up to the basic truth of rational pluralism in modern democratic society,and should coordinate many relationships and balance various interests in the conflicting world.Therefore,based on the feasibility perspective,the most rational method to realize liberty is that we should achieve substantial equality of liberty maximally.This involves the conflict of liberty,in the face of this conflict,the usual train of thinking of that is to establish a set of rules of priority and then act on these rules.Rawls raised the idea of priority of basic liberty to solve the conflict and betrayal of liberty,and realization of it.But because the conflict and betrayal has happened in the process of liberal realization,if we solve the problem of this realization,that means the problems of conflict and betrayal about liberty are solved.It is through a profound reflection on the betrayal,Rawls finds the focus of the difficulty of the realization of liberty.And by means of the detailed analysis of this conflict,the basic idea of solving this difficulty is also determined.In the field of contemporary political philosophy,Nozick and Amartya Sen interpreted in depth to liberty from the two directions of right and capacity respectively.Unfortunately,each of them is grasping at only one aspect of liberty.It is Rawls who takes into account two perspectives of liberty with his two principles of justice:regard rights with the principle of equal liberty and capability with the principle difference.Based on the experience of the past,for the lack of confidence on whether people can control capability rationally,the lexicographic order is arranged between the two principles of justice.All of these fully demonstrate the greatness of Rawls’ s liberal thoughts.So liberty is still in the process of being resolved,and the key thing it focused on was how to understand itself,how to look at the two perspectives of liberty,value and fact.The liberal discourse of the past,for the classical liberals,at least,has mostly followed the path of the discourse of rights,with a general tendency to emphasize values over facts.And it turned around after Rawls,emphasis on the substantive of justice in his theory,the distinction between the liberty and the value of liberty,and the explanation of the difference principle all indicate his concern about the perspective of capacity.It was also enlightenment by Rawls that the efforts of sen and Martha Nussbaum truly opened up the contemporary narrative of the discourse of capability,and this perspective of liberty began to emerge from behind its right perspective,and became clear gradually.Therefore,it is possible to grasp the integrity of the concept of liberty,so that liberty is unified under the dual orientation of the right as the dimension of value and the capability of the dimension of fact.Rawls starts with the definition of basic liberty and the analysis of priority issues,he develops a discussion for a proposition of the priority of basic liberty.Three major problems,which the proposition is trying to solve,are expounded in turn,and three proofs of the priority of basic liberty are made.He advocated that liberty should be realized his theory of justice,which as fairness,from the equal rights to endow to it possess fairly,so as to solve the biggest crisis in the post-Mill era.He proposed a solution to the priority of basic liberty,with the help of two principles of justice and their lexicographic rules,to take into account the rights and capabilities of the realization of liberty.He emphasized two dimensions of liberty and the value of liberty in equality,and insisted on the difference principle to concern about the value of liberty realized fairly,so as to help the liberty to achieve substantial equality.And,in his opinion,if the key to realizing social justice is the institution,and social justice must be guaranteed by it,then the essence of social justice is how to solve the problem of equal realization of liberty in an institutionalized way.Rawls,by virtue of the approach of this kind of institutionalism,has contributed a basic road map to solve the contemporary crisis of liberty,and break out the difficult problem of liberal realization.