this post was submitted on 31 May 2025
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On the boundaries of personal freedom: what if my exercise of freedom bothers someone? (lemy.lol)
submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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When speaking about personal freedom and it's boundaries, I take the position of: every person must have all the freedom to do whatever they would like, until it starts to harm others or limit their freedoms.

I believe this to also be the most common position by proponents of freedom.

So this means I cannot say I have the freedom to beat someone, for example, as that is harming them and limiting their own freedoms.

Now this is an obvious example, but there are a lot of murky ones. For example:

  • Do I have the freedom to use some power tools in my house if it bothers my neighbor?
  • Do I have the freedom to smoke in the city if it bothers people?
  • Do I have the freedom to just walk completely naked in a busy city? What if I am very unpleasant to look at? What if many people do like I do and it just makes the city less pleasant to walk through?
  • Do I have the freedom to be entirely naked and stand on a public sidewalk but just next to a storefront? Maybe the owner doesn't care, except I drive away their customers because they care
  • Do I have the freedom to plant a tree in my yard that suddenly takes away sunlight from neighbor? Technically it's my house!

"the freedom to walk in my neighborhood without having to hear power tools" and "the freedom to use power tools" seem to be in opposition.

I think many people will have straight answers for these. I'm not looking for answers. I'm looking for a reasonable general guideline. When are situations like these considered to be within my rights to personal freedom, and when are they outside of personal freedom or infringing on freedoms of others?

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

It depends on where exactly you draw the line between 'bother' and 'harm'. Most people don't need a hard line though, a little common sense and courtesy/consideration toward others often does the trick. For example, I can use them to answer your questions:

Do I have the freedom to use some power tools in my house if it bothers my neighbor?

That depends on whether 'bother' means 'slightly irritate' or 'keep awake when they have to be up for work'. One of those things is harm and the other isn't.

Do I have the freedom to smoke in the city if it bothers people?

Second-hand smoke causes measurable harm to others. It's not even ambiguous. But again it depends on how you define 'in the city'; do you mean 'on my front porch in the suburbs' or 'in the middle of a crowd of 30 people waiting to cross the street'?

Do I have the freedom to just walk completely naked in a busy city?

Do others have the freedom to not see you naked? Seems like the freedom to not see you naked causes fewer harms than the freedom to be naked in public.

Do I have the freedom to be entirely naked and stand on a public sidewalk but just next to a storefront?

What is your fixation with being naked? Nobody can make you get dressed in your own home, but you should probably put your clothes on when you leave the house.

Do I have the freedom to plant a tree in my yard that suddenly takes away sunlight from neighbor?

Do they have the freedom to trim it when it becomes a problem?

The best general guideline I've found is two-fold: don't be stupid, don't be a dick. If you're not sure whether or not you're clear of those two tripwires you're probably too close to them and should take a couple steps back just to be safe.