How would you describe freedom in relationship to personal rights and ethical standards and obligations?

 

First we have to define the concept of Freedom. Freedom in its simplest form is the right of a person to do as they please without restraint or hindrance. Hence, freedom as a concept is the fundamental autonomy of humans as it exists in society.

Now let's describe freedom in relationship to three things; (1) personal rights, (2) ethical standards, (3) obligations.

First, Freedom and personal rights. Personal rights are defined as inherent and immutable rights that a human is entitled to in society. These rights encompass a persons rights over their body, their property, security, and their liberty. As mentioned, personal rights are hinged on entitlement to act without hindrance or restraint. Therefore, freedom is essentially the foundational concept of the personal rights we have today. The understanding that freedom is an important feature in society has made human civilization develop in such as a way that we all acknowledge fundamental personal rights that each human being is entitled to. For example, the Freedom of Expression is the predicate to a person's personal right to bodily autonomy. Freedom of Religion is the predicate to a person's personal right to choose his or her own belief. Therefore, it may be said that freedom's relationship with personal rights is its purpose of serving as an overarching principle which either establishes personal rights as inviolable or develops the existence of new persnal rights.

Second, Freedom and ethical standards. Ethical standards are unspoken or written rules on the way we act in society. This determines the propriety or impropriety of a person's conduct in a specific context in the world. Ethical standards therefore limit what a man could do and taking away their unbridled discretion to act for the common good. Therefore it may be said that the relationship of freedom and ethical standards is that the latter actually limits the otherwise unlimited freedom people have in what they want to do and how to act in society. Ethics therefore is a standard which makes sure that the exercise of freedom is not used to do harm or evil in society. To illustrate, in a world where people are entitled to absolute freedoms anyone can very much invade towards the personal privacy of other people in their society as it is fundamentally the essence of freedom that allows one to his own accord. However, ethical standards are created with the understanding that the exercise of freedom should not extend to harming others or causing evil. Therefore, it can be said that ethical standards are limitations to the exercise of freedom to the end of protecting other people's personal rights and freedoms.

Third, Freedom and Obligation. Obligations are an act or action to which someone is morally, legally, or ethically bound to do. Therefore, obligations are imposed actions on individuals which is either a result of mutual agreement or compliance of duty. Obligations compared to ethics is a result of someone entering into a covenant whether wittingly or unwittingly such as being part of a state, country, or society. To illustrate, unlike ethics which govern the exercise of freedom around the world, obligations on the other hand are imposed due to one entering into a certain context. If I am a person who wants to be an American Citizen, I give up some of my rights such as being a member of another country's military because I have the obligation to be loyal to the state of America. Therefore, obligations are limitations to once rights for the purpose for something one has agreed or entered into.