Freedom

What are Patterson's three components of freedom?

.

Asked by
Last updated by Jill W
1 Answers
Log in to answer

Freedom, according to Patterson, has three components: personal, sovereignal and civic. With personal freedom, the individual is not dominated by another human. He has the choice of doing what he wants, subject to the wishes of others, which functions as a constraint. Sovereignal freedom more or less defines the slave-slave master relationship. An individual can do what he wants without the constraint of the wishes of others. Freedom is relative in that the more freedom one individual has, the less freedom another has. The third component is the civic component, in which individuals have the freedom to participate in the community and its governance, with their rights and obligations defined.

Source(s)

Freedom