Freedom Is Reciprocal (Mutual Liberty Principle)

Freedom is defined as a shared condition: one’s liberty ends where it meaningfully constrains another’s ability to live well. Speech, enterprise, or experimentation are protected until they infringe on others’ autonomy or foundational guarantees.

The principle curbs absolutist interpretations of liberty that justify monopolies, disinformation, or exploitation. It underpins regulations against coercive market dominance and ethical guardrails for AI deployment. In conflicts, it is balanced with the other Guiding Axioms but cannot override the Foundational Principles.

The idea draws from Mill’s harm principle and modern relational freedom theories, emphasizing interdependence over isolated individualism.

References

• UnscarcityBook, chapter3
• John Stuart Mill, “On Liberty” (1859)
• Philip Pettit, “Freedom as Non-Domination” (1997)