The Negative and the Positive of Modern Liberty:On Benjamin Constant's Thoughts of Liberty

In contemporary Western political theory,Benjamin Constant is often presented as a precursor of negative liberty because of the influence of Isaiah Berlin.However it is a misunderstanding of Constant's theory of liberty.Although he argued that the right of individual independence is the main characteristic of modern liberty,Constant developed a profound analysis of the negative aspects of individual liberty such as the scepticism and nihilism.To confront the problems of modern liberty,Constant thought that it is necessary to defend judiciously modern liberty by establishing the moral legitimacy of modern equality and liberty.But what is more important is to construct the positive value of modern liberty such as intellectual liberty,religious liberty and especially political liberty in order that the abuses of modern liberty and the crisis of modernity could be overcome by the liberty itself when the individual rights could be effectively protected and that the individual perfection could be achieved.A historical presentation of Constant's thoughts of liberty will help to clarify the theoretical and historical misunderstanding of liberty in contemporary Western political theory.