Gerald C. MacCallum Jr. (June 16, 1925 – January 14, 1987) was an American philosopher. He was Professor of Philosophy at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

. MacCallum is well known for his critique to the distinction, made famous by

Isaiah Berlin Sir Isaiah Berlin (6 June 1909 – 5 November 1997) was a Russian-British social and political theorist, philosopher, and historian of ideas. Although he became increasingly averse to writing for publication, his improvised lectures and talk ...

, between negative and

positive liberty Positive liberty is the possession of the power and resources to act in the context of the structural limitations of the broader society which impacts a person's ability to act, as opposed to negative liberty, which is freedom from external restra ...

, proposing instead that the concept of freedom can only be understood as a 'triadic relation', in which "x is (is not) free from y to do (not do, become, not become) z". His other publications include Political Philosophy (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1987) and Legislative Intent and Other Essays on Law, Politics, and Morality (University of Wisconsin Press, 1993, edited by Marcus G. Singer and Rex Martin) which collects 14 essays on topics that include legislative intent, violence, integrity, civil disobedience, and conscience, as well as negative and positive freedom.

References

1925 births 1987 deaths Social philosophers 20th-century American philosophers University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty {{US-philosopher-stub